Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Peter 3:7

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

7. dwell with them according to knowledge ] It is significant that while the Apostle dwells emphatically on the case of Christian women who have unbelieving husbands, his exhortations to men seem to take for granted that their wives were of one mind with them. In the then existing state of society this was, of course, natural enough. The wife might be converted without the husband, but hardly the husband without the wife. The word for “dwell together” (not found elsewhere) is clearly intended to cover all the relations of married life. In those relations men were to act “according to knowledge,” i.e. with a clear perception of all that marriage involved, and of the right relation in which each of the two parties to the contract stood to the other. The wife was not to be treated as a slave or a concubine, nor again as the ruler and mistress of the house, but as a helpmeet in the daily work of life, a sharer in its higher hopes and duties, the mother of children to be brought up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel ] The word for “giving,” not found elsewhere in the New Testament, implies an equitable apportionment, that for “wife” is strictly an adjective agreeing with “vessel,” and would therefore be rightly rendered by female. In the term “vessel,” which finds a parallel in 1Th 4:4, we have the thought that all, men and women alike, are “instruments” which God has made for His service (comp. 2Ti 2:20-21). The husband is bound to think of himself in that light. He must recognise himself as the stronger vessel of the two, and therefore, because noblesse oblige, he must render due honour to the weaker, seeking to strengthen and purify and elevate it.

as being heirs together of the grace of life ] The MSS. present various readings, some making the word “heirs” refer to the husbands and some to the wives. As, in either case, stress is laid on their being joint heirs, there is practically no difference. The “life” in which both are thus called to be sharers is, of course, none other than the eternal life which consists in knowing God. (Joh 17:3.)

that your prayers be not hindered ] Some MSS. give a stronger form of the verb, “that your prayers be not cut off (or, stopped).” The more natural interpretation is that which refers the pronoun to both the husband and the wife. Where there was no reciprocated respect, each recognising the high vocation of the other, there could be no union of heart and soul in prayer. Where the husband thought of the wife only as ministering to his comfort or his pleasures, as one whom he might, as both Jewish and Roman law permitted, repudiate at will, there could be no recognition of the fact that she shared his highest hopes. The words clearly include, though they do not dwell on them, the special hindrances to prayer referred to in 1Co 7:3-5.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Likewise, ye husbands – On the general duty of husbands, see the notes at Eph 5:25 ff.

Dwell with them – That is, Let your manner of living with them be that which is immediately specified.

According to knowledge – In accordance with an intelligent view of the nature of the relation; or, as becomes those who have been instructed in the duties of this relation according to the gospel. The meaning evidently is, that they should seek to obtain just views of what Christianity enjoins in regard to this relation, and that they should allow those intelligent views to control them in all their contact with their wives.

Giving honor unto the wife – It was an important advance made in society when the Christian religion gave such a direction as this, for everywhere among the pagan, and under all false systems of religion, woman has been regarded as worthy of little honor or respect. She has been considered as a slave, or as a mere instrument to gratify the passions of man. It is one of the elementary doctrines of Christianity, however, that woman is to be treated with respect; and one of the first and most marked effects of religion on society is to elevate the wife to a condition in which she will be worthy of esteem. The particular reasons for the honor which husbands are directed to show to their wives, here specified, are two: she is to be treated with special kindness as being more feeble than man, and as having a claim therefore to delicate attention; and she is to be honored as the equal heir of the grace of life. Doddridge, Clarke, and some others, suppose that the word honor here refers to maintenance or support; and that the command is, that the husband is to provide for his wife so that she may not want. But it seems to me that the word is to be understood here in its more usual signification, and that it inculcates a higher duty than that of merely providing for the temporal needs of the wife, and strikes at a deeper evil than a mere neglect of meeting her temporal necessities. The reasons assigned for doing this seem to imply it.

As unto the weaker vessel – It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to compare the body to a vessel, (Compare the notes at 1Th 4:4), and thence the comparison is extended to the whole person. This is done either because the body is frail and feeble, like an earthen vessel easily broken; or because it is that in which the soul is lodged; or because, in accordance with a frequent use of the word, (see below,) the body is the instrument by which the soul accomplishes its purposes, or is the helper of the soul. Compare Act 9:15; Rom 9:22-23; 2Co 4:7. In the later Hebrew usage it was common to apply the term vessel (Hebrew k^eliy, Greek skeuos) to a wife, as is done here. See Schoettgen, Hor. Heb. p. 827. Expressions similar to this, in regard to the comparative feebleness of woman, occur frequently in the classic writers. See Wetstein in loc. The reasons why the term vessel was given to a wife, are not very apparent.

A not unfrequent sense of the word used here ( skeuos) in the Greek classics was that of an instrument; a helper; one who was employed by another to accomplish anything, or to aid him (Passow), and it seems probable that this was the reason why the term was given to the wife. Compare Gen 2:18. The reason here assigned for the honor that was to be shown to the wife is, that she is the weaker vessel. By this it is not necessarily meant that she is of feebler capacity, or inferior mental endowments, but that she is more tender and delicate; more subject to infirmities and weaknesses; less capable of enduring fatigue and toil; less adapted to the rough and stormy scenes of life. As such, she should be regarded and treated with special kindness and attention. This is a reason, the force of which all can see and appreciate. So we feel toward a sister; so we feel toward a beloved child, if he is of feeble frame and delicate constitution; and so every man should feel in relation to his wife. She may have mental endowments equal to his own; she may have moral qualities in every way superior to his; but the God of nature has made her with a more delicate frame, a more fragile structure, and with a body subject to many infirmities to which the more hardy frame of man is a stranger.

And as being heirs together of the grace of life – The grace that is connected with eternal life; that is, as fellow-Christians. They were equal heirs of the everlasting inheritance, called in the Scripture life; and the same grace connected with that inheritance had been conferred on both. This passage contains a very important truth in regard to the female sex. Under every other system of religion but the Christian system, woman has been regarded as in every way inferior to man. Christianity teaches that, in respect to her higher interests, the interests of religion, she is every way his equal. She is entitled to all the hopes and promises which religion imparts. She is redeemed as he is. She is addressed in the same language of tender invitation. She has the same privileges and comforts which religion imparts here, and she will be elevated to the same rank and privileges in heaven. This single truth would raise the female sex everywhere from degradation, and check at once half the social evils of the race. Make her the equal of man in the hope of heaven, and at once she rises to her appropriate place. Home is made what it should be, a place of intelligence and pure friendship; and a world of suffering and sadness smiles under the benefactions of Christian woman.

That your prayers be not hindered – It is fairly implied here:

(1) That it was supposed there would be united or family prayer. The apostle is speaking of dwelling with the wife, and of the right manner of treating her; and it is plainly supposed that united prayer would be one thing that would characterise their living together. He does not direct that there should be prayer. He seems to take it for granted that there would be; and it may be remarked, that where there is true religion in right exercise, there is prayer as a matter of course. The head of a family does not ask whether he must establish family worship; he does it as one of the spontaneous fruits of religion – as a thing concerning which no formal command is necessary. Prayer in the family, as everywhere else, is a privilege; and the true question to be asked on the subject is not whether a man must, but whether he may pray.

(2) It is implied that there might be such a way of living as effectually to hinder prayer; that is, to prevent its being offered aright, and to prevent any answer. This might occur in many ways. If the husband treated the wife unkindly; if he did not show her proper respect and affection; if there were bickerings, and jealousies, and contentions between them, there could be no hope that acceptable prayer would be offered. A spirit of strife; irritability and unevenness of temper; harsh looks and unkind words; a disposition easily to take offence, and an unwillingness to forgive, all these prevent a return of prayers. Acceptable prayer never can be offered in the tempest of passion, and there can be no doubt that such prayer is often hindered by the inequalities of temper, and the bickerings and strifes that exist in families. Yet how desirable is it that husband and wife should so live together that their prayers may not be hindered! How desirable for their own peace and happiness in that relation; how desirable for the welfare of children! In view of the exposition in this verse we may remark:

(a) that Christianity has done much to elevate the female sex. It has taught that woman is an heir of the grace of life as well as man; that, while she is inferior in physical vigor, she is his equal in the most important respect; that she is a fellow-traveler with him to a higher world; and that in every way she is entitled to all the blessings which redemption confers, as much as he is. This single truth has done more than all other things combined to elevate the female sex, and is all that is needful to raise her from her degradation all over the world.

(b) They, therefore, who desire the elevation of the female sex, who see woman ignorant and degraded in the dark parts of the earth, should be the friends of all well-directed efforts to send the gospel to pagan lands. Every husband who has a pure and intelligent wife, and every father who has an accomplished daughter, and every brother who has a virtuous sister, should seek to spread the gospel abroad. To that gospel only he owes it that he has such a wife, daughter, sister; and that gospel, which has given to him such an intelligent female friend, would elevate woman everywhere to the same condition. The obligation which he owes to religion in this respect can be discharged in no better way than by aiding in diffusing that gospel which would make the wife, the daughter, the sister, everywhere what she is in his own dwelling.

(c) Especially is this the duty of the Christian female. She owes her elevation in society to Christianity, and what Christianity has made her, it would make the sunken and debased of her own sex all over the earth; and how can she better show her gratitude than by aiding in any and every way in making that same gospel known in the dark parts of the world?

(d) Christianity makes a happy home. Let the principles reign in any family which are here enjoined by the apostle, and that family will be one of intelligence, contentment, and peace. There is a simple and easy way of being happy in the family relation. It is to allow the spirit of Christ and his gospel to reign there. That done, though there be poverty, and disappointment, and sickness, and cares, and losses, yet there will be peace within, for there will be mutual love, and the cheerful hope of a brighter world. Where that is missing, no outward splendor, no costly furniture or viands, no gilded equipage, no long train of servants, no wine, or music, or dances, can secure happiness in a dwelling. With all these things there may be the most corroding passions; in the mansion where these things are, pale disease, disappointment, and death may come, and there shall be nothing to console and support.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 7. Dwell with them according to knowledge] Give your wives, by no species of unkind carriage, any excuse for delinquency. How can a man expect his wife to be faithful to him, if he be unfaithful to her? and vice versa.

Giving honour unto the wife] Using your superior strength and experience in her behalf, and thus honouring her by becoming her protector and support. But the word honour, signifies maintenance as well as respect;-maintain, provide for the wife.

As-the weaker vessel] Being mare delicately, and consequently more slenderly, constructed. Roughness and strength go hand in hand; so likewise do beauty and frailty. The female has what the man wants-beauty and delicacy. The male has what the female wants-courage and strength. The one is as good in its place as the other: and by these things God has made an equality between the man and the woman, so that there is properly very little superiority on either side. 1Th 4:4.

Being heirs together] Both the man and woman being equally called to eternal glory: and as prayer is one great means of obtaining a meetness for it, it is necessary that they should live together in such a manner as to prevent all family contentions, that they may not be prevented, by disputes or misunderstandings, from uniting daily in this most important duty-family and social prayer.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Dwell with them; perform all matrimonial duties to them; by a synecdoche, all the duties of that relation are contained under this one of cohabitation.

According to knowledge; either, according to that knowledge of the Divine will, which by the gospel ye have obtained; or, prudently and wisely, and as becomes those that understand their duty.

Giving honour unto the wife; not despising them because of their weakness, or using them as slaves, but respecting them, caring for them, {as Mat 15:6; 1Ti 5:3} using them gently, covering their infirmities.

As unto the weaker vessel; weaker than the husbands, and that both in body and mind, as women usually are. In Scripture any instrument is called a vessel, and the wife is here called so, as being not only an ornament, but a help to the husband and family, Gen 2:18. This he adds as a reason why the husband should give honour to the wife, viz. her being the weaker vessel; weak vessels must be gently handled; the infirmities of children bespeak their pardon when they offend; and those members of the body which we think less honourable, on them we bestow more abundant honour, 1Co 12:23. It is a part of that prudence according to which men should dwell with their wives, to have the more regard to them because of their infirmities, (in bearing with them and hiding them), lest they should be discouraged, if they find their weakness makes them contemptible.

And as being heirs together: another reason why husbands should give honour to their wives, viz. because though by nature they are weak and unequal to their husbands, yet they are equal to them in respect of their being called to the same grace and glory, there being neither male nor female in Christ, Gal 3:28.

Of the grace of life; i.e. eternal life, which is the gift of grace; or, is to be given out of grace.

That your prayers be not hindered; either, that ye be not diverted and hindered from praying; or, that the efficacy of your prayers be not hindered, viz. by those contentions and differences which are like to arise, if you do not dwell with your own wives according to knowledge, and give them the honour that belongs to them.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

7. dwellGreek,“dwelling”: connected with the verb, 1Pe2:17, “Honor all.”

knowledgeChristianknowledge: appreciating the due relation of the sexes in the designof God, and acting with tenderness and forbearance accordingly:wisely: with wise consideration.

them . . .giving honour to the wifetranslate and punctuate the Greekrather, “dwelling according to knowledge with the female (Greekadjective, qualifying ‘vessel’; not as English Version, anoun) as with the weaker vessel (see on 1Th4:4. Both husband and wife are vessels in God’s hand, and ofGod’s making, to fulfil His gracious purposes. Both weak, the womanthe weaker. The sense of his own weakness, and that she, likehimself, is God’s vessel and fabric, ought to lead him to actwith tender and wise consideration towards her who is the weakerfabric), giving (literally, ‘assigning,‘ ‘apportioning‘)honor as being also (besides being man and wife) heirs together,”c. or, as the Vatican manuscript reads, as to those who are also(besides being your wives) fellow heirs.” (The reason why theman should give honor to the woman is, because God giveshonor to both as fellow heirs; compare the same argument, 1Pe3:9). He does not take into account the case of an unbelievingwife, as she might yet believe.

grace of lifeGod’sgracious gift of life (1Pe 1:4;1Pe 1:13).

that your prayers be nothinderedby dissensions, which prevent united prayer, onwhich depends the blessing.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them,…. “With your wives”, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions read; which not only included dwelling together in the same house, and bedding together in the same bed, but the whole of conjugal conversation, and all the offices and duties incumbent on men in a married state:

according to knowledge; of themselves, and their wives, and the duties belonging to the conjugal state, and the laws of God and man respecting it; and according to their knowledge of the Gospel, and the Christian dispensation, which no ways breaks in upon, but strengthens and encourages to the observance of things belonging to natural religion, and civil life; and according to that superior knowledge of things, which, generally speaking, men have to women; as also wisely, prudently, becoming their characters as men and Christians:

particularly giving honour to the wife; by speaking well of her, and respectfully to her, and by deeds as well as words; not only by clothing her in a decent and becoming manner, suitable to her station; but by providing everything honest and comely for her, food and raiment, a suitable maintenance, all the necessaries, conveniences, and delights of life, that are laudable and proper; in which sense the word honour is used in 1Ti 5:3 and this was agreeably to the doctrine of the Jews q, who say,

“let a man always take care , “of the glory of his wife”; for there is no blessing found in a man’s house, but for the sake of his wife, as it is said, Ge 12:16 “and he entreated Abraham well for her sake”: and Rabba used to say to the citizens, , “honour your wives”, that ye may be rich.”

And indeed this is what they promised in their marriage contract, which runs thus r:

“be thou unto me for a wife, according to the law of Moses and Israel, and I, by the word of heaven, or God, will worship, , “and honour”, and nourish, and take care of thee, according to the custom of the Jews, who worship, and “honour”, and nourish, and take care of their wives.”

As unto the weaker vessel; so in 1Th 4:4 the wife is called a vessel, [See comments on 1Th 4:4], and here “the weaker”; being so for the most part, both as to strength of body, and endowments of mind; and therefore to be used gently and tenderly, and not be treated with neglect and contempt, or with inhumanity and severity; but as, in every state and condition, the strong are to bear the infirmities of the weak; so a man should bear with, and accommodate himself to the infirmities of his wife, and hide them as much as he can, and not expose them, nor despise her on account of them. It is a saying of the Jews s,

“if thy wife be short of stature, bow thyself, and whisper to her.”

The meaning of the proverb is, that he ought to suit himself to her capacity and weakness:

and as being heirs together of the grace of life; not of a natural life, and the good things of it; though husbands and wives partake of the same kind of life, and have a right unto, and share in the same necessaries of life; so Adam and Eve were partakers of the same life, and sharers of the same benefits; and which is a reason indeed why they ought to live lovingly together: but something more is intended; not the external gifts of the Spirit, which, unless in some few instances, are bestowed on men, and not on women; nor the Gospel, and the ordinances of it, which are the means of grace and life; though men and women, called by grace, have an equal right to them, and enjoy them; see Ga 3:28 but grace here, and glory hereafter, are here meant. Some copies, as the Alexandrian, and others, read, “heirs together of the manifold grace of life”; God’s own people, without any difference as to sex, as men and women, equally share in grace, as it signifies the love and favour of God; which is the same to all the objects, as to the date of it, which is from everlasting, one not being loved before another; and as to the quality of it, which is free, sovereign, special, discriminating and unchangeable, one being loved not with one sort of love, another with another; and as to the quantity of it, it not admitting of more or less; and as to the duration, which is for ever: and so they are heirs of it, as it denotes the blessings of grace; being equally heirs of, and sharers in electing, redeeming, justifying, pardoning, and adopting grace: and as it may intend the internal graces of the Spirit, as faith, hope, and love; which as to their principles are the same in all the saints, though different as to the degree of the exercise of them: and which may be called “the grace of life”; or “living grace”, as some copies and the Complutensian edition read, and so the Arabic version, because by it men and women, who were dead in trespasses and sins, are quickened; and in distinction to counterfeit grace, which differs as much from true grace, as the picture of a man from a living man; and because it lives for ever, and never dies, and gives a meetness for eternal life, which it springs up to, issues in, and is inseparably connected with. Moreover, by it may be meant eternal life and salvation, of which the saints, without any difference as to sex, are heirs of: so some copies read, “heirs of manifold grace, and life”; by the former, meaning grace here, and by the latter, glory hereafter; which is a life of vision of God, and uninterrupted communion with him; of perfection and pleasure, and which will last for ever; and may be called

the grace of life, because it is the free gift of God’s grace: and agreeably the Syriac version renders it, “the gift of eternal life”; and the Ethiopic version, glorious life: and this is represented as an inheritance, being what belongs only to the children; and which they have not by their own works, as an acquisition of theirs, but by the free grace of their heavenly Father, and as his gift and bequest unto them. Now all the saints, of whatever state, condition, or sex, are equally heirs of this inheritance; for there is but one inheritance, one kingdom, one crown of glory, which all shall enjoy; and whatever disparity there may be, particularly between husband and wife, in their natural relation, there is none in the things of grace, and with regard to the kingdom of glory; and which is an argument why husbands should dwell peaceably and comfortably with their wives, and give all due honour to them, since they are upon a par in spiritual things, there being neither male nor female in Christ Jesus, and because they are now joint heirs of, and shall equally share in eternal life and happiness.

That your prayers be not hindered: as they would be were they not to dwell together; or should not the husband give honour to his wife, and take care of her as he ought to do: hence would arise strifes and quarrels, when they could not cordially, and to edification, join together in prayer; nor would such prayers, put up in wrath, be acceptable unto God, who requires that men should lift up holy hands everywhere, whether in public, or in private, in God’s house, or in their own houses, without wrath and doubting. From hence we may observe, that family prayer is a duty incumbent on professors of religion, and great care should be taken that it be not neglected and hindered.

q T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 59. 1. & Sepher Musar apud Drusium in loc. r Apud. Buxtorf. Chald. Gram. p. 389. s T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 59. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Ye husbands likewise ( ). Probably “likewise” here refers to honouring all men (2:17), not “likewise” of 3:1.

Dwell with (). Present active participle of , old verb for domestic association, here only in N.T. Used as imperative here like the participle in 1Pet 2:18; 1Pet 3:1.

According to knowledge ( ). “With an intelligent recognition of the nature of the marriage relation” (Vincent).

Giving honour unto the woman as unto the weaker vessel ( ). Present active participle of , old verb, to assign, to portion out (or off), here only in N.T. is an old and common word for vessel, furniture, utensil (Matt 12:29; 2Tim 2:20). Here both husband and wife are termed vessels or “parts of the furniture of God’s house” (Bigg). See Paul’s use of for ministers (2Co 4:7). here is an adjective (female, feminine) from (woman, wife). She is termed “the weaker” ( ), not for intellectual or moral weakness, but purely for physical reasons, which the husband must recognize with due consideration for marital happiness.

Joint-heirs of the grace of life ( ). Late double compound found in an Ephesian inscription and the papyri, in N.T. only here, Rom 8:17; Eph 3:6; Heb 11:9. God’s gift of life eternal belongs to woman as well as to man. In the eyes of God the wife may be superior to the husband, not merely equal.

To the end that your prayers be not hindered ( ). Purpose clause with and the present passive infinitive (with negative ) of , to cut in, to interrupt, late verb (Polybius), as in Ro 15:22, etc. Very vivid to us now with our telephones and radios when people cut in on us. (prayers) is the accusative of general reference. Husbands surely have here cause to consider why their prayers are not answered.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

According to knowledge. With an intelligent recognition of the nature of the marriage relation.

The woman [ ] . Not a noun, however, as would appear from the ordinary rendering, but an adjective, agreeing with skeuei, vessel, as does also ajsqenesterw, weaker. Both are attributes of vessel; the female vessel as weaker. So Rev., in margin.

Vessel [] . Compare 1Th 4:4. The primary idea of vessel, which is formed from the Latin vasellum, the diminutive of vas, a vase, is that of the receptacle which covers and contains; the case or protecting cover. Hence it is allied, etymologically, with vest, vestment, and wear. It is used in the New Testament

(1) in the sense of a cup or dish (Luk 8:16; Joh 19:29; 2Ti 2:20; Rev 2:27; Rev 18:12).

(2) Of the man, as containing the divine energy, or as a subject of divine mercy or wrath, and hence becoming a divine instrument. Thus Paul is a chosen vessel to bear God ‘s name (Act 9:15). Vessels of wrath (Rom 9:22); of mercy (Rom 9:23). So of the woman, as God ‘s instrument, along with man, for his service in the family and in society.

(3) Collectively, in the plural, of all the implements of any particular economy, as a house, or a ship. Mt 12:29, goods; Act 27:17, the tackling or gear of a ship.

Giving [] . Only here in New Testament. The word means, literally, to portion out, and is appropriate to the husband as controlling what is to be meted out to the wife.

Hindered [] . So A. V. and Rev., and the best texts, and the majority of commentators. The word means, literally, to knock in; make an incision into; and hence, generally, to hinder or thwart (Gal 5:7; 1Th 2:18). Some, however, read ejkkoptesqai, to cut off or destroy.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Likewise, ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge.” (Gk. homios) “In the same manner,” of obedience the husbands are instructed to (Gk. sunoi kountes) dwell or settle down with them according to knowledge, formerly acquired, Eph 5:24.

2) “Giving honor unto the wife.” (G k. aponemontes) assigning honor to the wife, meaning giving special attention to or showing special respect toward.

3) “As unto the weaker vessel.” As (Gk. asthenestero) to or toward a weaker or more fragile (Gk. skeuei) vessel, one more easily broken or bent;

4) “And as being heirs together of the grace of life;” (hos kai) “as even” being (sugkleronomois) co-heirs or closely tied, attached heirs of God’s grace of life. Eph 5:28-33.

5) “That your prayers be not hindered.” This language is plain. Husbands and wives have divinely appointed responsibilities to each other. The wife is to be in absolute submission to the husband and the husband is to show absolute honor, special attention and care to the wife, lest their prayers be hindered before their children, neighbors, and the world and they lose rewards. 1Co 3:13-15; 2Jn 1:8.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them. From husbands he requires prudence; for dominion over their wives is not given them, except on this condition, that they exercise authority prudently. Then let husbands remember that they need prudence to do rightly their duty. And doubtless many foolish things must be endured by them, many unpleasant things must be borne with; and they must at the same time beware lest their indulgence should foster folly. Hence the admonition of Peter is not in vain, that the husbands ought to cohabit with them as with a weaker vessel. Part of the prudence which he mentions, is, that the husbands honor their wives. For nothing destroys the friendship of life more than contempt; nor can we really love any but those whom we esteem; for love must be connected with respect.

Moreover, he employs a twofold argument, in order to persuade husbands to treat their wives honourably and kindly. The first is derived from the weakness of the sex; the other, from the honor with which God favors them. These things seem indeed to be in a manner contrary, — that honor ought to be given to wives, because they are weak, and because they excel; but these things well agree together where love exists. It is evident, that God is despised in his gifts, except we honor those on whom he has conferred any excellency. But when we consider that we are members of the same body, we learn to bear with one another, and mutually to cover our infirmities. This is what Paul means when he says that greater honor is given to the weaker members, (1Co 12:23😉 even because we are more careful in protecting them from shame. Then Peter does not without reason command that women should be cared for, and that they should be honored with a kind treatment, because they are weak. And then as we more easily forgive children, when they offend through inexperience of age; so the weakness of the female sex ought to make us not to be too rigid and severe towards our wives.

The word vessel, as it is well known, means in Scripture any sort of instrument.

Being heirs together (or co-heirs) of the grace of life Some copies have “of manifold grace;” others, instead of “life,” have the word “living.” Some read “co-heirs” in the dative case, which makes no difference in the sense. A conjunction is put by others between manifold grace and life; which reading is the most suitable. (38) For since the Lord is pleased to bestow in common on husbands and wives the same graces, he invites them to seek an equality in them; and we know that those graces are manifold in which wives are partakers with their husbands. For some belong to the present life, and some to God’s spiritual kingdom. He afterwards adds, that they are co-heirs also of life, which is the chief thing. And though some are strangers to the hope of salvation, yet as it is offered by the Lord to them no less than to their husbands, it is a sufficient honor to the sex.

That your prayers be not hindered For God cannot be rightly called upon, unless our minds be calm and peaceable. Among strifes and contentions there is no place for prayer. Peter indeed addresses the husband and the wife, when he bids them to be at peace one with another, so that they might with one mind pray to God. But we may hence gather a general doctrine — that no one ought to come to God except he is united to his brethren. Then as this reason ought to restrain all domestic quarrels and strifes, in order that each one of the family may pray to God; so in common life it ought to be as it were a bridle to check all contentions. For we are more than insane, if we knowingly and wilfully close up the way to God’s presence by prayer, since this is the only asylum of our salvation.

Some give this explanation, that an intercourse with the wife ought to be sparing and temperate, lest too much indulgence in this respect should prevent attention to prayer, according to that saying of Paul,

“

Defraud not one another, unless by consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer.” (1Co 7:5.)

But the doctrine of Peter extends wider: and then Paul does not mean that prayers are interrupted by mutual cohabitation. Therefore the explanation which I have given ought to be retained.

(38) The received text is the most approved, and there is no different reading of any importance. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

1Pe. 3:7. Knowledge.With thought and care; trying wisely to meet all circumstances, Giving honour.In the spirit of Christian meekness and gentleness, which always puts others before self. Weaker vessel.This is physically true, and it puts woman upon every good mans consideration. Even the rights of the husband are qualified by Christian gentleness toward the frail and often suffering wife. Heirs together.The new life and new hope putting a new tenderness into your marital relations. Not hindered.Cut off, as they would be by one of them praying against the other.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Pe. 3:7

The Christian Husband.The husband is the head of the wife, but not in such sense that she is to be under his feet, to be treated as his servant, or to be deemed his inferior. She is of his bone and of his flesh, and St. Paul therefore said, Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them (Eph. 5:25; Col. 3:19). And here St. Peter is equally express: Likewise, or in like manner, ye husbands, dwelling with the feminine according to knowledge, as with the weaker vessel, giving honour to those who are also fellow-inheritors of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. Such is the true rendering of the apostles words. What, then, is required of the husband?

I. Consideration.He is to dwell with his wife according to knowledge, as with the weaker vessel. Both are vesselsclay in the hands of the Potter, Who has formed them for Himself, giving to each the frame best suited for the end He has in view (Jer. 18:6; Isa. 29:16, etc.); but the wife is physically the weaker vessel, and the husband, knowing this, is to treat her in every respect with kind consideration. She is subject to many trials as a mother, to many cares as the mistress of the household, to many diseases peculiar to her sex. Shall all this be forgotten? And shall the often suffering and sorrowful wife have no sympathy, or very little, from him to whom she has a right to look up? God forbid. It is a mistake to suppose that by the weaker vessel here it is meant that the wife is always mentally the inferior of the husband. In many qualities of the mind she often far excels him, and there have been, and still are, women whose acquirements in all branches of science and art equalled those of the most eminent men. The society of many a wife is better, in an intellectual point of view, than her husband will meet with away from home; and as for spiritual conversation and Christian fellowship, hers is often not to be surpassed.

II. Honour.Your wives, says the apostle, are fellow-heirs with you of the grace of life. It is here assumed that both are believers, and, if so, both are partakers of the gift of life flowing from the grace of God. Eternal life begins on earth and is consummated in heaven, so that two things are here implied: that the husband and the wife are one in Christ now, and that hereafter their union will continue in a brighter and a happier sphere. Shall they, then, be afraid to converse with one another on the things of God? Shall they have any secrets in reference either to their outer or their inner life? The union that subsists between them is so close and sacred that, as far as possible, their very thoughts should blend; and if any differences of opinion exist, either with regard to their family affairs or in respect to religious views, they should try to remove them as soon as possible, or should bear with one another in reference to them with all charity and love. Specially should they honour one another; and the husband who has a Christian wife should never for one moment fail to see in her one who, equally with himself, bears the signature and stamp of heaven.

III. The apostle adds a special reason for all this.That your prayers be not hindered. He assumes that the husband and the wife do pray; that they pray not merely for one another, but with one another; not merely at the domestic altar, but together, when no one else is near. It is said of Philip Henry that he and his wife constantly prayed together morning and evening, and from his own experience of the benefit of the practice he recommended it to all his Christian friends. That your prayers be not hindered, love one another with a pure heart, fervently, with that love which is essential to the happiness of married life (from Thornley Smith). The three points in relation to the Christian husband which this passage suggests are:

1. His authority, implied in his superiority of physical strength, and in that rule, in the ordering of life-relations, which is implied in dwelling with them according to knowledge.

2. His considerateness. Putting her interest before his own. Giving her all honour.

3. His religious helpfulness. The activity and energy, which are manly characteristics, finding expression in the shaping of the religious customs of the home.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

1Pe. 3:7. Honour to the Weaker Vessel.Read, as with a weaker vessel, with what is female. This explains the saying, according to knowledge. The thing which the husband is specially to understand, and take into account, is that he is dealing with a thing less strong than himself. The whole of chivalry is in these words, and St. Peter, next after Christ, may be considered the founder of it. Weakness itself, by being weakness, has a claim upon the strong mans deference and self-submission. The weakness here ascribed to the female sex is primarily that of the body, though it may, perhaps, indicate frailty in other respects as well. If the word vessel is to be here a description of a wife, as some contend on 1Th. 4:4, in a sense in which it does not equally describe a husband, it is difficult to see with what the vessel is compared and pronounced weaker. Dwell with the female as with a more delicate vessel or instrumentthan what? If we answer, than yourselves, it becomes clear that the husbands are, by implication, less delicate vessels. And this is the case. In 1Th. 4:4 the word vessel (whether as receptacle or as instrument) is a description of the body, or rather of the self as manifested in the body. The word in itself may be used to describe anything made to be serviceablemachinery, tackle and gear, pots and pans, and, in fact, any kind of apparatus or implement; and here it might be very fairly rendered, as with a weaker thing or object. That which is translated the wife is really a neuter adjective, and it is a question whether we are to supply with it the noun vesselwith the female as with a vessel which is weakeror whether it is to stand absolutely, the female, as we say the good, the evil, i.e. that which is female. The latter seems, on the whole, simpler and more forcible, as calling closer attention to the fact of weakness being inherent in the sex.A. J. Mason, M.A.

The Husbands Sphere in the Home.The true home is the brightest spot since the Garden of Eden; but it does not make itself, or come by chance. In building a glad and happy household, each one has a part to perform, and Gods choicest blessing comes only when all the members stand in their place and do their duty. The happy home grows out of a union of hearts and hands toward one cherished end. One person alone may do much, but no one can do all that is required. The best is only when there is sympathetic and harmonious blending together, like the different parts of music. When either part fails, there is discord and loss. Complete concert of action between husband and wife is a necessity in any well-ordered home. Perfect confidence and affection must exist between them. To draw apart, tears. To make the home the happiest and most helpful place in the world, each must give the best to it. Not to society, not to business, not to outside intimates, but to the family circle, must the choicest gleanings be brought from all the fields of life, as the bee brings to his hive, and not elsewhere, honey from all the sweetest flowers. The husband has an important sphere. The more he gives to the home, the more it will give to him. The more he is to it, the more it will be to him and to the world. His dividend will be in proportion to his investment. Some complain that their home joys are meagre. Let them remember how mean and beggarly are their contributions. They cannot reap where they do not sow. If they will, they can make the home a source of perennial comfort to themselves, and the means of blessing to many. It should be a bright beacon in this worlds night. The word husband means a house-band; a band of strength around the home, upholding, protecting, and keeping it together. The home was the first institution God made. The germs of the State and the Church are in it. The husband, as the head of the home, stands at the beginning of all the worthiest elements of Society. In the household he plants the seeds of religion for the Church, and of authority for the State. The family is the spring-head of the nation, the source of its purest spiritual and civil life. It is plain what manner of man the husband ought to be. The husband in the model home must love his wife. St. Paul says, Husbands love your wives, and be not bitter against them. These are strong wordsBible words. The Bible is the marriage ring. Marriage begins in love. It must continue and end there. The husband must see that the early, tender affection never fails; that the gentle tone of lifes morning does not grow harsh. He must love the wife down through old age, and on through fading youthful beauty, to the sunset years, with a love that makes wrinkles beautiful, and infirmities seem precious. Tell her how much you love her still. Tell it more and more, as the years go on. Never allow the white roses of affection to fade on your lips, and your mouth to grow dumb. A cold silence is a mildew. Some wives would be surprised to hear expressions of endearment from their husbands now. All that ceased long, long ago. Let the husband show his love by his presence, not leaving her, and deserting the home the long evening through, when he can help it. Let the husband cherish his wife, and appreciate what she does, causing her to feel that he sees and esteems her service. Let little attentions never cease, nor delicate thoughtfulness for her welfare. Let the husband shelter his wife under his strong arm, and smooth her path. Let him protect her and stand by her in her cares and trials, and know that she will never look to him in vain. Let him provide for her reasonable wants, that she come not into embarrassment, and feel that he demeans her. Ill temper and hasty words on his partthese are not for the happy home. Some seem to be more considerate of their horse and dog than of their wives, but many a husband is a mule. The true husband will be mindful of his wifes good, and not indifferent to her, for in his smile she lives, and in his frown is chill. A husbands love is the sunshine of the wife. It brings out her beauty of soul, as a spring morning opens the flowers, and sustains her in her deeper needs. Selfishness and disregard to the interests and happiness of the wife, planting ones own self in the centre, and absorbing every good thing in ones own greed, the wife drudging and denying herself for her husband, as the slave for his lordrunning to serve his every whim;this is not found on heathen ground alone. There are home heathens. Genuine love casts out selfishness, and ennobles the heart. It makes it generous and self-denying for all others sakes. Husbands, love your wives. These are some of the benefits that flow out of domestic love, and in proportion as this love ceases these benefits fail. What if love has ceased already? Do these things and it will come back, as the seeds begin to open when the spring sun shines again. Let the husband honour his wife. Peter says, Ye husbands, give honour unto the wife, as being joint heirs of the grace of life. Honour her by caring for her needs. In the hard places of life, stand by her side, and give her true sympathy. When children are ill, and burdens press, let her feel that she has a stronghold in you, and give her your comfort. Because she is your wife, you owe her what, without you, she can never have. Bland and polite as treacle some are to guests and outsiders, while in their homes they are domineering and exacting, finding fault with the wife, and criticising her before the children, blaming her for the mishaps, with seldom a kind word. Oh, it is only my wife! This is the gilt edge of married life, in a guilty age. Do you say you have no time for all these trifles? In the perfect home there are no trifles. It is trifles that make perfection, and perfection is no trifle. Honour her by sharing your joys with her, as she shares all your cares, taking on herself in the family the heaviest part. Allow her to be with you when she can, to go with you when she may, and to enter into your life. Do not add to her crosses by leaving her to doubt you. Do not lay up food for sad reflection when death comes, and plant thorns in your pillow against that hour. The time to love, honour, and help her, is when these things are needed. When death has entered, and plucked the lilies from her cheek, it will be too late then to lighten her lot, or speak her praises. Honour her by taking her into counsel with you. She will be wise with a true womans wisdom. Insight and intuition are her gift, and she will give her husband her best thought, and be happy that it is sought. In all the affairs of life, a true womans judgment has its uses. Many a man has failed for want of it. The counsel at his elbow would have saved him had he sought it. Thus honouring her, she will be made strong. Then, if he takes her into counsel, and honours her in his successes, when failures and reverses come, and trouble and misfortune sweep over them, as they do sometimes over the best and most prosperous, she will, in turn, grandly stand by him and become his polar star, enduring every hardship for his sake with sweet and abiding cheerfulness and courage, never breathing a murmur of complaint. Be worthy of her, and you will find she will be worthy of you. Your lives will develop together. Let the husband be faithful and true to his wife. The evils that I have been speaking of are the little foxes that spoil the vines. But intemperance and infidelity are what Dr. Abbott calls the wolves that destroy the home. The Lord Bishop of Durham founded the White Cross League. It asserts that the time will come when fatherhood will take its place beside motherhood, its Divine counterpart, as equal sharers in the cares which have so ennobled women as to make some of them akin to angels. The pledge of this order declares: I will maintain the law of purity as equally binding on men and women. I will endeavour to spread these principles among my companions, and try to help my younger brothers. I will use every means to fulfil the sacred command, Keep thyself pure. If the wife be led into sin, she is denounced and cast off as a thing unclean, with little effort for her reform; yet through all the husbands excesses and untruth to her, and drunkenness and dishonour, she clings to him, pleading and toiling to draw him back into the true path. How the husband owes it to such a being to keep his marriage vows in all fidelity and truth! I have spoken of the little foxes and the wolves of the home. The vampire of wedded life is where an alien comes in between husband and wife, under sanction and authority of the husband, and frets, almost to breaking, the marriage tie, and sucks out the pure joys of connubial life. Every husband should be a Christian in heart and life, and unite with the wife in faith and prayer and the service of God. He should join with her in the training of the children for usefulness here and for heaven hereafter. The husband should not let the wife pray alone. The whole household needs it. He should not allow her to go alone to church. He requires it as much as she. He should be with her at the communion table. Above all, he should not leave to her the Christian education of the children. Alone in this, the wife is a bird with one wing. It is a great wrong to the wife, to put all these trying and difficult duties on her, when God lays them equally on him. Some of the most important ones can only be done by him. Others require their united Christian effort, the closest conference of Christian hearts. A married couple can never be truly one, in the greatest and profoundest interests of life, until both are Christians. The most sacred and blessed side of the soul, that bordering on eternity, they cannot walk together in, until they together know the Lord. How many times does a mothers heart ache for the aid a Christian father could give to her, when perplexed in the household, when things are at cross purposes, and the load seems heavier than she can bear! How barren, after all, is wedded joy, to live together on earth, and for earth only, without the bright hope of dwelling together in eternity, meeting there, never more to part! That home cannot be happiest which looks for no reunion in heaven. The happiest home is always the Christian home, where husband and wife are one at the family altar, as one in interests and affection.C. L. Goodell, D.D.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

4. Toward Wives 3:7

1Pe. 3:7 Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered.

Expanded Translation

In the same conscientious manner, you husbands must dwell with your wives in accordance with knowledge (governed by intelligence and wisdom), treating her as one of honor and value, as the weaker vessel, as being those who are joint-heirs of (physical) life; in order that your prayers be not rendered ineffectual.

_______________________

Ye husbands, in like manner,

Just as wives are exhorted to be in subjection to their own husbands, so husbands also must do what is right and proper toward their wives. Peter certainly does not mean here that a husband is to be in subjection to his wife, just as she is to be in subjection to him. This would be a gross contradiction. The idea is, that he must be just as considerate and careful to maintain his God-given relationship to his wife, as she is in maintaining her rightful relationship to him.
His conduct in this relationship is to be considered a part of his Christianity. This, I believe, is the common denominator of the term in like manner as it occurs here and in 1Pe. 3:1, There was something about the slaves relationship to his master that the Christian wife was to do in like manner toward her husband. And there was something about the wifes conduct (and perhaps the slaves) that a husband was to do in like manner. In each instance, the Christian being exhorted is told to act in a manner befitting a true child of God in the particular relationship discussed.

according to knowledge

Gnosis, here meaning intelligence, understanding, etc. He must strive to know and understand those matters, principles, and facts which will encourage, help, and edify his wife. He must be a considerate and thoughtful husband. He ought to know her physical, spiritual and emotional needs and how to fulfill them. How many marriages go on the rocks because of ignorance!

giving honor unto the woman

See under 1Pe. 1:7 where the word honor (time) is defined.

as unto the weaker vessel

The word vessel, skeuos, means literally a vessel, bowl, pottery, etc. The weaker the vessels, the greater must be the care lest they be broken. If one has a vase that is thin and fragile, he takes more care and caution with it than with the heavier, more sturdy container. Using Bible language, he honors it. The wife here is pictured as a vase or vessel that will not stand harsh or careless treatment.

as being joint-heirs of the grace of life

It is difficult to know precisely what is meant by this phrase. Evidently the Apostle wants to emphasize that both the husband and wife are heirs of this grace. But to what life is he referring? Some would refer it to Gods precious gift of everlasting life. Others, to the life which now isthe Christian life. But it is not stated in this passage that both husband and wife are Christians. (The your prayers, may refer only to the prayers of husbands, rather than to the prayers of both mates.) It seems more probable that the reference here is to the gift of human life. God has seen fit to bring both into the world and sustain them up to the present hour. For this, they should both be thankful. The husband, particularly, should recognize the fact that God saw fit to bless his wife with this life just as much as himself.

that your prayers be not hindered

Ekkopto (ek, from, off, and kopto, to cut) to cut out; to cut off, metaphorically, to cut off occasion, remove, prevent, render ineffectual.

Sin in the heart and life is devastating to effectual prayer! Particularly is this so when squabbles, fights, hatreds, and animosities are present in the home. In the first place, the very desire to pray will probably be lost. How many husbands and wives who are continually at odds with one another, encourage one another to pray? How many times do you see such couples praying together at all? Even if such mates should pray, their sinful home life would clog up Gods channel of blessing. Behold, Jehovahs hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, so that He will not hear (Isa. 59:1-2).

No, friend, you cannot be acting wrongly toward your mate, and be right with God!

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(7) Likewise, ye husbands.The subjection is not to be all one-sided, though the husbands subjection to the wife will be of a different kind from the wifes to him. We are hardly to take this as a separate paragraph from the foregoing, but rather as a corollary added to it, to correct a false impression that might otherwise have been conveyed.

Dwell.Rather, dwelling. The participle is attached to the previous sentences, just as in 1Pe. 2:16; 1Pe. 2:18; 1Pe. 3:1; but St. Peter does not like to say to the husbands submitting yourselves (though it is implied in the likewise), and conveys the deference which the husbands are to pay under other terms: such as according to knowledge, giving honour.

With them.The whole order of the sentences needs re-arrangement as follows: Ye husbands, likewise, dwelling according to knowledge, as with a weaker vessel, with what is female, apportioning honour as to joint heirs also of a grace of life. In order to understand this very hard passage, we must remember what is St. Peters object all throughout these instructions, viz., to commend Christianity to jealous watchers without. Here, therefore, we may well suppose that he is thinking chiefly of the case of believing husbands (Jewish) married to unbelieving wives (Jewish also), thus presenting the counter-picture to that of 1Pe. 3:1. And the first thing is that they are to dwell with these wives, not to divorce them, nor to cease from conjugal cohabitation with them; such harshness would lend very little attractiveness to the Christian religion among the Jewish homes to which the divorced wife would turn. (See 1Co. 7:12 et seq.a passage which must almost have been in St. Peters mind.)

According to knowledge.This phrase, which is like an adverb, such as scientifically, intelligently, means that the husband is to study to enter into the whole bearings of the case, to take everything into account. Husband and wife will not get on together smoothly at haphazard, without pains taken to understand the situation. (See 1Th. 4:4; you should know.)

Unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel.Or rather, as we now take it, as with a weaker vessel, with what is female. This explains the saying according to knowledge. The thing which the husband is specially to understand and take into account is that he is dealing with a thing less strong than himself. The whole of chivalry is in these words, and St. Peter (next after Christ) may be considered the founder of it. Weakness itself, by being weakness, has a claim upon the strong mans deference and self-submission. The weakness here ascribed to the female sex is primarily that of the body, as we shall see when we consider the word vessel, though it may, perhaps, indicate frailty in other respects as well. If the word vessel is to be here a description of a wife, as some contend on 1Th. 4:4, in a sense in which it does not equally describe a husband, it is difficult to see with what the vessel is compared and pronounced weaker. Dwell with the female as with a more delicate vessel or instrument than what? If we answer than yourselves, it becomes clear that the husbands are, by implication, less delicate vessels. And this is the case. In the Note on 1Th. 4:4, it has been shown that the word vessel (whether as receptacle or as instrument) is a description of the body, or rather of the self as manifested in the body. The word in itself may be used to describe anything made to be serviceablemachinery, tackle and gear, pots and pans, and, in fact, any kind of apparatus or implementand here it might be very fairly rendered, as with a weaker thing or object. That which is translated the wife is really a neuter adjective, and it is a question whether we are to supply with it the noun vesselwith the female [vessel] as with a vessel which is weakeror whether it is to stand absolutely, the female, as we say the good, the evili.e., that which is female. The latter seems, on the whole, simpler and more forcible, as calling closer attention to the fact of weakness being inherent in the sex.

Giving honour.The word for giving implies rendering a portion which is due. And what is here called honour is not to be understood only of the wifes maintenance (as some say), though such is probably the interpretation of the word in 1Ti. 5:17, and comp. Exo. 21:10; nor is the wife only to be honoured by being consulted in affairs of moment and put in charge of the household. The honour to be accorded to wives as to joint heirs of a grace of life is the same kind of honour as St. Paul, in 1Th. 4:4, says must be accorded to oneself. Indeed, from the juxtaposition of three significant words there, we can hardly escape the conclusion that St. Peter was remembering that passage of St. Paul, that every one of you should know how to obtain possession of the vessel of himself in sanctification and honour. It is that chaste respect for the wife which is meant in the Prayer Book by the phrase, With my body I thee worship. It means that the husband must not dare to take any liberties with his wife. Would the Christian husband be likely to approve his religion to the unbelieving wife if she found that he took a coarse view of the conjugal tie?

And as being heirs together of the grace of life.There is here a very intricate question of readings, on which it depends whether the heirs are to be nominative or dative, the husbands or the wives. The present annotator prefers, on the whole, to follow Tischendorf, and read the dative, paying respect as to persons who are also joint heirs (i.e., with you) of a grace of life. Happily, it comes to much the same thing, the only difference being that in the one case deference is paid to the wife on the ground of her possessing a joint dignity with the husband, and in the other case on the ground that the husband does not possess his dignity except conjointly with the wife. That dignity which they conjointly inheriti.e., possess as a gift from Godis called the grace (or perhaps, a grace) of life. This is generally interpreted to mean, the gracious gift of everlasting life. Undoubtedly, life is often used absolutely in the New Testament to mean eternal lifee.g., Mat. 18:8; and it gives a very intelligible sense, that the husband should reverence the wife as being equally with himself an everlasting soul. But this neither gives sufficient force to the conjoint nature of the possession, nor does it take into account the possibility of such a case as, in fact, we suppose to be here intended, viz., of a believing husband and unbelieving wife. Although, in a sense, the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband (1Co. 7:14), yet not in such a sense as for them to be called conjoint possessors of eternal life. It seems best, therefore, to suppose that the grace (or dower) of life which husband and wife hold, not only in common, but conjointly, is life in the natural sense. This grace, this mysterious and divine giftnot apart from one another, but conjointlythey are privileged by the Creators primeval benediction (Gen. 1:28) to transmit. They have the power (no Archangel has the like) to bring human beings into existence. And in consideration that such is the dignity and the intention of marriage, a man may well be called upon to revere his partner in the great prerogative.

That your prayers be not hinderedi.e., the husbands prayers, not necessarily their prayers with their wives. It is easy to feel how the consciousness of having treated a wife with less awe than is indicated by the foregoing words would clog the mans prayers, whether for himself or for his wifes conversionthe latter being, probably, what St. Peter chiefly meant. Very likely he had in view what St. Paul writes in 1Co. 7:5.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

7. Ye husbands A correspondent command is now laid upon the husband, requiring for the wife considerate and Christian treatment as his spiritual equal, although physically weaker than he.

Dwell with The word means, primarily, a living together in the same house, and here in the marriage relation.

According to knowledge Wisely, reasonably, and not arbitrarily, as lording it over them.

Giving honour Reverent regard and respectful treatment.

Weaker vessel More delicate and fragile in structure, and therefore demanding the greater consideration. The bottom idea in the word vessel is, a work; it then comes to include the human body as a piece of God’s workmanship. Man is a weak vessel, and easily damaged; woman is a weaker one. Her mental or moral strength is not referred to.

Heirs together An additional and higher reason for honour to the wife. We prefer the pointing of Tischendorf and Alford, which gives the rendering: Dwell according to knowledge with the wife as with the weaker vessel, giving honour as to those who are (not only your wives, but) also fellow heirs (with you) of the grace of life. Thus reading, the apostle enjoins (1.) Considerateness for the wife, because of her comparative physical weakness; and, (2.) Honour for her because she is an heir with her husband to the gift of life.

Not hindered Only on the ground thus laid down can there be union in the prayers of husband and wife. Disagreements, disrespect, and the ill feelings thence resulting, are destructive to united prayer, and, indeed, to all prayer.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘You husbands, in the same way, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honour to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life, to the end that your prayers be not hindered.’

Christian husbands are to respond to their wives ‘in the same way’ (i.e. by being obedient to God) and to behave appropriately, for if they do not it will be a hindrance to their spiritual lives. Dwelling with their wives ‘according to (or ‘in accordance with’) knowledge’ may indicate:

Doing so ‘in lawful sexual knowledge’ (intercourse – compare Gen 4:1; Mat 1:25). It may thus be indicating that he too is to be faithful in his sexual relations.

Keeping in mind a recognised body of Christian moral teaching (‘knowledge’) about relationships, which he is being called on to follow.

Keeping in mind the then generally acknowledged ‘knowledge’ of women as the weaker sex held by all, especially in view of their no doubt continual pregnancies, so that he is tender and caring.

The ‘giving of honour to the woman as the weaker vessel’ indicates the general conception of the woman as the weaker vessel physically. She did not go to war or do the heaviest tasks, was often weakened by pregnancy, and tended to die younger (on average lower-class women expected in those days to die in their thirties, men in their forties). Clearly the definition must not be overdrawn, and circumstances have changed. But there is still some truth in it. If we want to be awkward we can rightly ask ‘weaker in what way?’ but Peter would simply be using a recognised expression for describing a woman living under the conditions of those days, and we will therefore leave the debate to others as it is irrelevant to the context. The idea of people as ‘vessels’ is found elsewhere (Act 9:15; Rom 9:21-23; 2Co 4:7; 1Th 4:4; 2Ti 2:20-21). It normally refers to them as being useful, or even breakable.

Peter then stresses that what men are always to bear in mind is the equality of both of them in God’s eyes, they are to remember that they are ‘joint-heirs in the grace of life’. This may be looking back to Gen 1:26-27; Gen 2:23-24, seeing them as those who have together received life from God, or it may have in mind their spiritual oneness in Christ as inheritors of eternal life. Either way it is describing their mutual compatibility and oneness, and indicating an equality rarely thought of outside the Bible in those days. Both will share an equal inheritance.

‘To the end that your prayers be not hindered.’ These words demonstrate the premium that God puts on a good marriage. Not to be in harmony in every aspect of their married lives will hinder their prayers. It is a reminder that when we do anything displeasing to God it affects our ability to pray acceptably. We may not notice the difference, but God does. We cannot lift up holy hands (1Ti 2:8) when we are at loggerheads with our partners. And the same is in fact true of all our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ (Mat 5:23-24).

We note that no mention is made of the possibility of the man having a non-Christian wife. It is a reminder that being the female partner in a religiously ‘mixed marriage’ in those days was far more difficult than it was for a male, and required far more delicacy with respect to behaviour, and a firmer resolution in order to be a good witness. A husband would often expect his wife to conform to his ideas. But it does not, of course, indicate that Peter considered that a man in such a relationship had no responsibility for his wife. Simply that the same problems were not likely to arise.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

1Pe 3:7. Ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, Ye men that are married, behave prudently, in such a manner as becomes those, who have been instructed in that great system of wisdom and duty,the gospel of Christ. Some render the next clause, Allotting an honourable subsistence to the wise. It is to be remembered, that many of the Christians were persons of low rank in life; which might make such a precept of maintaining their wives decently, and not subjecting them to harder labour than they could bear, (which they might be tempted to do from their indigent circumstances,) exceeding proper. The sense of the word , as signifying subsistence, or maintenance, is confirmed by 1Ti 5:17. That your prayers be not hindered, is generally understood to mean, “That your praying together be not prevented or interrupted.” Now quarrels and contentions, or any thing which breaks in upon the tranquillity, peace, and harmony which ought to subsist in families, and especially between a man and his wife, would be very likely to interrupt their daily prayers, or greatly discompose and unfit them for their social and Christian worship of God. Dr. Heylin renders this verse, Likewise, ye husbands, cohabit with your wives according to discretion; paying them the respect that is due to the weaker sex, and considering them as heirs with you of the grace of life; that there may be no impediment to your prayers.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1Pe 3:7 . ] , with the participle following, refers back, as in 1Pe 3:1 , to . , with which the exhortation begins (Hofmann); though there is no (cf. 1Pe 2:18 , 1Pe 3:1 ), there lies something corresponding to it in the fact that the wife on her part possesses a to be acknowledged by the husband. Pott erroneously renders by “vicissim, on the other hand;” nor is it, as de Wette thinks probable, to be expanded: “in like manner, ye men also, hear my exhortation.”

] ( . .) is not a euphemismus de tori conjugalis consuetudine (Hieronym. contra Jovian, lib. l. c. 4; Augustin. in Psalms 146., etc.); the reference is rather to life together at home.

] As is here anarthrous, it is wrong to understand as referring directly to “Christian recognition of the relation of wife to husband” (Brckner, Schott); is rather an adverbial expression, in which is to be understood generally, as Wiesinger correctly remarks: “according to recognition, i.e. so that home life must be regulated by knowledge and understanding” (so also Hofmann). Similar adverbial expressions, formed by a conjunction of with an anarthrous subst., occur frequently both in classical and N. T. Greek. It is evident from the context that has here special reference to the marriage relation; but from this it does not follow that the interpretation: “ in a judicious, discerning manner ,” or Luther’s: “with reason,” is incorrect (in opposition to Brckner and Schott). De Wette is completely mistaken in rendering by: “that knowledge of men and self, in fact, that inward discernment, which is the condition of all moderation ,” as is Bengel also directly by: moderatio. [176]

] is erroneously connected by Luther and others with ; it belongs, however, to , which requires a nearer definition.

The word is used to designate the wife in 1Th 4:4 (see Lnemann in loc .) with reference to the husband; the same meaning, though with various applications, is here attributed to it by many interpreters. Beza: est femina vas i. e. comes et adjutrix viro ad fideliter coram Deo transigendam vitam adjuncta; Bengel: denotat hoc sexum et totum ingenium temperamentumque foemineum. But this view is incorrect, for , sc . , is subjoined by way of explanation, and the comparative . shows that the husband also is thought of as . must be taken here in its specific meaning of a utensil (or instrument) serving a particular purpose, and is accordingly to be understood as specially applicable to man, in so far as the latter is used by God for the accomplishment of His will (cf. Act 9:15 ). It is inaccurate, nor can it be justified by Rom 9:21 ff., to take the word in the general sense of “creation” (so Wiesinger, and formerly in this commentary). Hofmann understands here as referring both to the husband and the wife, inasmuch as “in a life united in marriage, one part is destined to be and to accomplish something for the other;” but the reference to this mutual relation is purely arbitrary. [177]

] Bengel: Comparativus, etiam vir habet infirmitatem; in like manner Steiger: “the less weak is called upon to assist the more weak” (thus also Fronmller). This view is, however, incorrect; it is the husband rather as the stronger there is no reference made here to his weakness who is here contrasted with the wife as the weaker (de Wette, Wiesinger, Schott, Hofmann). And, because he is such a , it is demanded of him that he live with his wife ; here also states the reason: because the wife is a . , it is accordingly incumbent on the man to behave towards her . Schott erroneously sees in the determining reason why the man should treat her as a . . ; but this can the less be maintained, that . . cannot signify: “because he recognises her as such,” but states the manner of the .

stands in apposition to , sc . , and is put first by way of emphasis.

, . . , Lev 18:22 ; Deu 22:5 , LXX.; Est 2:11 ; Est 2:17 .

] “ in that ye show honour ( respect ) to them ;” in the N. T. . .

The participle is not co-ordinate with the foregoing ( ), but subordinate to it, since it brings prominently forward one of the chief ways in which the preceding exhortation may be carried into effect. The thought here must not be arbitrarily limited to any special relation ( e.g. to that of maintenance or of continence, etc.). The husband should, in every relation, show the respect due to his wife.

[- ] ] serves as ground of the exhortation; if the reading be: , the reference is to the wives; if , to the husbands (in opposition to Pott, who somewhat singularly interprets as equal to , sc . ). The dative is more in harmony with the structure of the sentence and the thought, and therefore is to be preferred to the nom. supported by the authorities; although the nom. may be defended on the ground that husbands, as . of their wives, should in turn regard the latter as their . But since this last is really the point of importance, it can hardly be assumed that the apostle would only have hinted at it without openly giving expression to it. [178]

] de Wette-Brckner explain: “as (those who) also (like yourselves) (are) fellow-heirs ( one with another ).” The reference here attributed to simply on account of is inappropriate, since it is a thought entirely foreign to the context, that the wives are heirs with each other . If the reading be adopted, applies to the husbands, equivalent to “ with you ;” may stand with reference to the foregoing , adding a second particular to it (Schott); or it may also serve simply to intensify , since, strictly speaking, it is redundant. [179] If, however, be read, is to be taken in the latter way, and is not to be explained thus: “by something further is enjoined, which goes beyond the ” (Hofmann); for stands imperatively, whilst does not say what the husbands should be, but what they are. With the idea , cf. chap. 1Pe 1:4 ; the expression ., Rom 8:17 ; Eph 3:6 ; Heb 11:9 .

] states in what the , of which they are and will be , consists. It is erroneous to resolve the expression into (Erasmus) or (Grotius). Hofmann, assuming to be the true reading, gives an interpretation different from the above: “as such who, with their wives, share a life of manifold grace, i.e. of those divine favours which are experienced in common in every marriage by believers and unbelievers.” In this way, however, justice is done to neither of the ideas, nor is it pointed out what the favours in married life referred to are. [180]

, ( Rec. ) ] , strictly, incidere, then intercidere, from which arises the further meaning impedire (Hes. , ); , pr. excidere, whence stirpitus delere; cf. Job 19:10 , LXX.: ; the idea of the latter word is stronger than that of the former, but the thought in both readings remains substantially the same, since both expressions denote the ceasing of prayer. Wiesinger incorrectly understands the meaning of the term . to be: “prayer in the meantime there still is, but the way is closed to it.” In like manner de Wette, following Bretschneider: ne viam praecludatis precibus vestris, remarks: “Prayer is by sin hindered from mounting up to the throne of God;” and such is in substance Hofmann’s view. [181] This idea would, however, have been more definitely expressed. The apostle does not say that the power and the hearing of prayer are hindered, but that the prayer itself is (this also in opposition to Reiche). In harmony with the connection of this last clause, by is to be understood either the joint prayer of married persons (Weiss, p. 352), [182] or the prayers which those here addressed offer up, as the husbands of their wives (or, further, as heads of households). Depreciation of the wife, in spite of union with respect to the , necessarily excludes prayer from married life. [183] Schott: “Where the husband does not recognise that the union of natural life in marriage is also union in the state of grace, there can naturally be no expression of the spiritual and Christian fellowship of marriage, no prayer in common.”

[176] Oecumenius understands this exhortation in connection with ver. 6 as having a special application to the household: : , , , .

[177] Schott arbitrarily asserts that the creature is here termed , “as a vessel which is destined to receive into itself , as its real contents, the realization of the divine will.” Even though a vessel containing something can be termed a , it does not follow that must be understood as meaning this and nothing else.

[178] In the 2d edition of this Commentary it was said: “Why should not the apostle base his exhortation to the men to honour their wives, by reminding them (the men) that they are called to inherit the along with their wives?” Reiche says: scilicet quia absurdum (!) esset, sic argumentari; Brckner maintains that meaning to be “altogether inappropriate and foreign to the purpose of the address.” These assertions, however, can by no means be accepted, since the consciousness of being a fellow-heir of salvation with any one may very well lead to a recognition of the which he possesses. Nor is there anything improbable in the circumstance itself, that the apostle, whilst basing the exhortation: , on the position of the women, should ground the on the position of the men. Schott passes too lightly over the whole question.

[179] On the redundance of in comparisons, see Winer, p. 390 [E. T. 548]; but this use of it cannot be appealed to, since here is not a comparative particle. Wiesinger thinks that perhaps contains the reference to a community to which man and wife equally belong; but what this was, would have been indicated by the context, as Eph 3:6 ; such, however, is not the case here. To the expression “strictly” Reiche adds a?, without ever thinking that, since the same idea is expressed by and , one of the two must be redundant, and that “strictly” is only meant to show that is in so far not purely redundant, that it serves to strengthen the idea expressed by .

[180] There is no warrant for the opinion that the apostle’s exhortation must apply also to such husbands as have unbelieving wives, since a case so special might well have been passed over. If the apostle had wished to make reference to this, he would in some way have alluded to it; cf. ver. 1 ff.

[181] In this interpretation the reference to the coming of prayer to God is a simple importation. Hofmann adds to the interpretation, that “the sighs of the wife bar the road to the husband’s prayers, by accusing him to God before his prayer, thus rendered worthless, reaches Him.” But this is a thought altogether foreign to the context.

[182] Although in ver. 7 it is the husbands who are addressed, still, as the verse treats of their behaviour towards their wives, can well apply to both.

[183] Hieronymus, Oecumenius, etc., apply the words according to 1Co 7:3 , ad honorem impertiendum uxoribus a viris, qui sit abstinentia a congressu, ut orationi vacare possint (Lorinus), which is connected with the false interpretation of ; Nicol. de Lyra says more correctly: cum vir et uxor non sunt bene Concordes, minus possunt orationi vacare. The Scholion in Matthaei, p. 199, is inadequate: .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Ver. 7. Likewise ye ] Officium ascendit, amor descendit.

According to knowledge ] Where should wisdom be but in the head? This must be showed Uxoris vitium aut tollendo, aut tolerando, said Varro, either by curing or at least covering his wife’s weaknesses.

As unto the weaker vessel ] Glasses are to be tenderly handled; a small knock soon breaks them. So here. Vipera virus ob venerationem nuptiarum evomit, saith Basil, The viper, for the honour of coupling with his mate, casts up his poison; et tu duritiem animi, tu feritatem, tu crudelitatem ob unionis reverentiam non deponis? and wilt not thou for the honour of marriage cast away thy harshness, roughness, cruelty to a consort?

As being heirs ] Souls have no sexes, Gal 3:28 .

That your prayers be not hindered ] Isaac prayed in the presence of his wife. This course of praying together, apart from others, being taken up by married couples, will much increase and spiritualize their affection one to another. But jarring will make them leave praying, or praying leave jarring.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

7 .] Duty of husbands to their wives . Ye husbands in like manner ( , not as Est., Grot., Steiger, al., ‘ vicissim ,’ but referring back to the ch. 1Pe 2:17 ; cf. below. This has not been seen, owing to inattention to the aor. there: even Huther, who interprets rightly, that there is a certain due to the wife, as to the husband and the master before, does not connect the idea with the general precept under which all these are ranged) dwelling ( is referred by the older expositors (e. g. Jerome contra Jov. i. 7, vol. ii. p. 248, Aug [10] in Psa 146 , vol. iv. pt. ii. al.) to the ‘tori conjugalis consuetudo:’ but for this there seems no reason, as the word is often used of the whole conjugal life: so Kypke here, “ connubio juncti vivant : ad totum respicit vit consortium, in auo justo copulati matrimonio vitam transigunt. Est hc frequentior vocis notio, qu apud Grcos antiquiores, ni fallor, sola occurrit. Demosth. in Neram, p. 534, scopum esse dicit, ut liberi gignantur legitiml et ingenui, et ab hoc distinguit ”) according to knowledge (in an intelligent and reasonable manner, well aware of the spoken of below: see reff.) with the feminine as with the weaker vessel ( is an adj. not a subst. as Wahl: see reff. For , instrument, applied to the wife, see ref. 1 Thess. Here the man is a also; both being God’s instruments in His beneficent work of the multiplication of mankind. The higher use of the word as a vessel of grace, or of wrath, does not preclude the lower one which is most obvious here, where the married relation is the subject of consideration. On , Bengel says, “comparativus: etiam vir habet infirmitatem:” and so Steiger: but this is plainly not so: the word ‘weaker’ being used as comparing with something which is stronger, viz. the man. Some, as Luth., Calv., Beza, Est., Grot., Hamm., E. V., join these words, . . . ., with . But this mars the parallelism and the sense. For the Apostle prescribes two things: 1. consideration for the wife, as of the weaker sex: 2. honour for the wife, as a fellow-heir of the grace of life. c. carries on the same idea, of not exacting too rigid accounts, as on 1Pe 3:6 ; , , , , . But for this there does not seem any reason), giving ( , to apportion, see reff.) honour as to those who are also (besides being your wives) fellow-inheritors (with you) of the grace of life (i. e. God’s gracious gift of life eternal: ch. 1Pe 1:4 ; 1Pe 1:13 suffice to clear the meaning, the former explaining ., the latter, . So that must not be weakened into with Erasm., nor into with Grot. The reading , which it is now proved that [11] has not [Tischdf. however, though he assigns the to B 1 (appy), does not think it quite free from doubt], seems to have arisen from the mistaken joining of . . . . with : see var. readd.): in order that your prayers be not hindered ( , , , Hesych. The hindrance meant seems to be, that which would be occasioned by the man not giving his wife proper honour as a fellow-heir of the grace of life; in which case the peculiar promise of advantage in social united prayer would be lost: cf. Mat 18:19 . According to this view, the united prayers of man and wife are meant. And so most of the Commentators. Cf. Schol.-Matth., : and Lyra, “Cum vir et uxor non sunt bene concordes, minus possunt orationi vacare, et eorum orationes sunt minus exaudibiles.” De Wette understands it of losing the confidence requisite for (mutual?) prayer; Wiesinger, of the prayers of the husband alone. If be read, it must be “be not cut off,” see Rom 11:22 ; Rom 11:24 ; 2Co 11:12 ).

[10] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430

[11] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle; it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as ‘Verc’): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are (1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as ‘Blc’); (2) that of Birch (‘Bch’), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798, Apocalypse, 1800, Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (‘Btly’), by the Abbate Mico, published in Ford’s Appendix to Woide’s edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus’ Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentley’s books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (‘Rl’), and are preserved amongst Bentley’s papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20) 1 . The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgon’s “Letters from Rome,” London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Pe 3:7 . Duty of husbands to their wives . Application of principle . , for the woman is the weaker vessel the pot which the stronger the cauldron may easily smash ( Sir 13:2 ). , . . . point with comma after and . . The comparison of Creator and creature to potter and clay is found first in Isa 29:16 , but is latent in the description of the creation ( ) of Adam from the dust of the earth (Gen 2:7 f.). In the prophets it is developed and applied variously (Isa 45:9 f., Isa 64:8 ; Jer 18:6 ). In Sap. 15:7, there is an elaborate description of the maker of clay images, in which replaces and vessels which serve clean uses are distinguished from the contrary sort . Thence St. Paul adopts the figure and employs it to illustrate the absolute sovereignty of the Creator, as Isaiah had done (see Rom 9:21 ), distinguishing vessels intended for honour from those intended for dishonour . Lastly 2Ti 2:20 exemplifies the particular application of the figure, on which Peter’s use of rests (1Pe 2:5 ; 1Pe 4:17 ) . . . The comparative proves that both husband and wife are vessels and assists to exclude the notion that St. Paul could mean to call a wife the vessel of her husband in 1Th 4:4 . , inasmuch as they are also heirs with you of the grace (1Pe 1:10 ; 1Pe 1:13 ) of life (1Pe 2:24 ): the heavenly inheritance is not distributed according to earthly custom, which gave the wife no rights of her own. . If the prayers are those of all (1Pe 3:8 ) compare 1Co 7 . ( ). Peter teaches that married life need not if the wife be properly honoured hinder religious duties, as St. Paul feared (1Co 7:32 ff.). If = you husbands (as v.l. requires) cf. Jas 5:4 .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Pe 3:7

7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

1Pe 3:7 “You husbands” This section to believing husbands is much shorter than that addressed to believing wives; however, it reflects a radically positive balance for Peter’s day, much like Paul’s (cf. Eph 5:21-31).

“in an understanding way” This could refer to (1) the truths of Scripture (i.e., Gen 1:26-27; Gen 2:18-25; Gal 3:28) or (2) being mindful of women’s unique physical structure (see note below).

“weaker vessel” This means physically (cf. Job 4:19; Job 10:9; Job 33:6; 2Co 4:7), not spiritually or intellectually (cf. Gal 3:28). Some commentators relate it to social status. This same “vessel” may be used in 1Th 4:4 as a reference to one’s wife (or an idiom of describing an eternal spirit within a physical body made from clay, cf. Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19).

“show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life” This reflects the spiritual equality (i.e., co-heirs, cf. 1Pe 1:4-5) of men and women (cf. Gen 1:27; Gen 2:18; Gal 3:28). In some ways even now salvation removes the consequences of the Fall (cf. Gen 3:16) and restores the mutuality between men and women of Genesis 1-2.

“so that your prayers will not be hindered” How believing couples treat one another affects their relationship with God (cf. 1Co 7:5).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

dwell with. Greek. sunoikeo. Only here.

according to. App-104.

knowledge. App-132.

giving = dispensing. Greek. aponemo. Only here. In the Septuagint in Deu 4:19 (divided). The word nemo is not found in N.T., but is frequent in the Septuagint of feeding cattle and sheep.

honour. This is part of the wife’s daily portion.

wife. Greek. gunaikeios. Only here. An adjective.

the, &c. Read “the female vessel as weaker”.

heirs together. See Rom 8:17.

grace. App-184.

life. App-170.

that = to the end that. App-104.

prayers. App-134.

hindered. Greek. enkopto. See Act 24:4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

7.] Duty of husbands to their wives. Ye husbands in like manner (, not as Est., Grot., Steiger, al., vicissim, but referring back to the ch. 1Pe 2:17; cf. below. This has not been seen, owing to inattention to the aor. there: even Huther, who interprets rightly, that there is a certain due to the wife, as to the husband and the master before, does not connect the idea with the general precept under which all these are ranged) dwelling ( is referred by the older expositors (e. g. Jerome contra Jov. i. 7, vol. ii. p. 248, Aug[10] in Psalms 146, vol. iv. pt. ii. al.) to the tori conjugalis consuetudo: but for this there seems no reason, as the word is often used of the whole conjugal life: so Kypke here, connubio juncti vivant: ad totum respicit vit consortium, in auo justo copulati matrimonio vitam transigunt. Est hc frequentior vocis notio, qu apud Grcos antiquiores, ni fallor, sola occurrit. Demosth. in Neram, p. 534, scopum esse dicit, ut liberi gignantur legitiml et ingenui, et ab hoc distinguit ) according to knowledge (in an intelligent and reasonable manner, well aware of the spoken of below: see reff.) with the feminine as with the weaker vessel ( is an adj. not a subst. as Wahl: see reff. For , instrument, applied to the wife, see ref. 1 Thess. Here the man is a also; both being Gods instruments in His beneficent work of the multiplication of mankind. The higher use of the word as a vessel of grace, or of wrath, does not preclude the lower one which is most obvious here, where the married relation is the subject of consideration. On , Bengel says, comparativus: etiam vir habet infirmitatem: and so Steiger: but this is plainly not so: the word weaker being used as comparing with something which is stronger, viz. the man. Some, as Luth., Calv., Beza, Est., Grot., Hamm., E. V., join these words, . …, with . But this mars the parallelism and the sense. For the Apostle prescribes two things: 1. consideration for the wife, as of the weaker sex: 2. honour for the wife, as a fellow-heir of the grace of life. c. carries on the same idea, of not exacting too rigid accounts, as on 1Pe 3:6; , , , , . But for this there does not seem any reason), giving (, to apportion, see reff.) honour as to those who are also (besides being your wives) fellow-inheritors (with you) of the grace of life (i. e. Gods gracious gift of life eternal: ch. 1Pe 1:4; 1Pe 1:13 suffice to clear the meaning, the former explaining ., the latter, . So that must not be weakened into with Erasm., nor into with Grot. The reading , which it is now proved that [11] has not [Tischdf. however, though he assigns the to B1 (appy), does not think it quite free from doubt], seems to have arisen from the mistaken joining of . … with : see var. readd.): in order that your prayers be not hindered (, , , Hesych. The hindrance meant seems to be, that which would be occasioned by the man not giving his wife proper honour as a fellow-heir of the grace of life; in which case the peculiar promise of advantage in social united prayer would be lost: cf. Mat 18:19. According to this view, the united prayers of man and wife are meant. And so most of the Commentators. Cf. Schol.-Matth., : and Lyra, Cum vir et uxor non sunt bene concordes, minus possunt orationi vacare, et eorum orationes sunt minus exaudibiles. De Wette understands it of losing the confidence requisite for (mutual?) prayer; Wiesinger, of the prayers of the husband alone. If be read, it must be be not cut off, see Rom 11:22; Rom 11:24; 2Co 11:12).

[10] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430

[11] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle;-it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon;-nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as Verc): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are-(1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as Blc); (2) that of Birch (Bch), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798,-Apocalypse, 1800,-Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (Btly), by the Abbate Mico,-published in Fords Appendix to Woides edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentleys books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (Rl), and are preserved amongst Bentleys papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20)1. The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgons Letters from Rome, London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

1Pe 3:7. , in like manner) The likeness does not refer to special duties, some of which belong to the wife, and others to the husband; but to the foundation of love: thus, in like manner, ch. 1Pe 5:5.-, knowledge) The master shows gentleness, ch. 1Pe 2:18; the husband . , which has regard to the weaker vessel, implies moderation, and produces [judgment, kindly judiciousness, friendly advice]; respecting which word, see 1Co 7:25, note. Therefore it excludes all violence, by which the weaker are struck with terror [1Pe 3:6], especially that caused by anger. Adam furnished a remarkable example of the dominion exercised by a husband tempered with moderation, who himself gave name to his wife, and gave her the power of naming her children.-, as) It is twice used here: in the former place it refers to , moderation; in the other, to , honour. The weakness of the vessel requires moderation; the inheritance enjoins honour (which implies more).-, to the weaker) The comparative: even the man has weakness.-, vessel) This denotes the sex and entire disposition and temperament of woman.- ) , absolutely: that is, women.- , giving honour) This is said in accordance with the command, that women should be in subjection. Comp. ch. 1Pe 2:17.-, honour) viz. that of a just opinion respecting them, of kindness, and of a chaste conversation. Comp. in honour, 1Th 4:4.-) Others read :[25] but the apostle is prescribing to husbands their duties towards their wives of whatever character, even towards those who do not believe the word. Comp. 1Pe 3:1. See App. Crit. Ed. ii. on this passage.-, joint-heirs) Heirs together with other believers. The reason why the husband ought to show moderation towards the wife, is derived from the weakness of the wife; the reason why the husband ought to give honour to the wife, is derived from the fact, that God also gives honour to the man, as to an heir. The hope of eternal glory makes men noble-minded and mild. There is a similar argument shortly afterwards in 1Pe 3:9, Bless, inasmuch as ye are called to inherit a blessing. The nominative case, joint-heirs, elegantly corresponds with the word dwelling together with them. Husbands are said to be joint-heirs, not with their wives, but with all the faithful. Comp. , elected together with you, ch. 1Pe 5:13.-) Some few read .[26] The Hebrew phrases in Schttgenius agree with both the Greek words: and indeed with the word , where barrenness is treated of, through which children fail, who otherwise arise in succession to their parents through prayer: and with the word , where sins which are a hindrance to prayers are treated of. This therefore is the better reading. For the apostle wishes that the prayers of husbands should not even be hindered or interrupted. But they are interrupted by intemperance and wrath, 1Co 7:5; and there is no time in which the recollection of injuries occurs to one more, than when engaged in prayer:[27] and to those who do not forgive, our heavenly Father does not forgive, although they pray.-, prayers) by which you gain that inheritance, and seek the salvation of your wives. Comp. note on 1Ti 2:8.

[25] Tisch. and Elzev. Rec. Text read , with Vulg. and Syr. and inferior MSS. The reading of B is doubtful. But the weightiest authorities, AC later Syr. and Stephens Rec. Text have : and so rightly Lachm.-E.

[26] AB read : so Lachm.: and so Vulg. Memph. impediantur. None of the oldest authorities, except both Syr. Versions, support , which is the reading of Rec. Text and Tisch.-E.

[27] It not seldom happens that, at the time when a quarrel has broken out among friends, neighbours, colleagues, and the learned, so as to take possession of the mind day and night, prayer ceases altogether.-V. g.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

1Pe 3:7

5. DUTIES OF HUSBANDS TO WIVES

1Pe 3:7

The exhortation of this portion of the epistle, like that of the two preceding sections–to Christian slaves (1Pe 2:18-25). and to Christian wives of unbelieving husbands (1Pe 3:1-16) –is closely connected with 1Pe 2:11-17 in which the apostle admonishes godly conduct before the world as the most effective answer to the slanders evil men were disposed to utter against them. In discharging worthily and properly the duties of the relationship in which they lived they would demonstrate a worthy life, show honor to all men, and evidence reverence toward God.

The instruction to husbands is brief and appears to have been inserted parenthetically to guard against abuse to the wives just addressed. The general tenor of the epistle is to show the duty of submission and the obligation to recognize and accept the subordination characteristic of one’s position in life; and lest the husbands should conclude that there were no mutual obligations and that, though the wives were bound, they were loosed with reference to any duties in the marriage state, these lines were penned. It is also significant that while the apostle particularly addressed himself to the wives of unbelieving husbands, the implication here is that the wives of these believers were also Christians. This was a logical conclusion from the nature of the society then existing. Wives might occasionally obey the gospel without their husbands, but not likely would husbands become Christians without their wives.

7 Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge,–“Dwell,” translated from a term which denotes domestic association, sums up the relationships of the marriage state. Such association is to be “according to knowledge,” i.e., with due understanding of the nature of the marital relation, each showing proper regard for the other, and both discharging the duties peculiarly theirs.

Giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; –The word “giving,” translated from a term which occurs nowhere else in the scriptures (aponemo), means to assign; to apportion; and “honor” in the text is the rendering of the same word translated “precious” in 1Pe 1:19. Christian husbands are to regard their faithful wives as precious and to assign to them the honor that is their due. The woman is called a “weaker vessel” not because of moral or intellectual weaknesses, but solely from the fact that she lacks the physical prowess commonly characteristic of man. The husband is exhorted to dwell with his wife in due consideration of the fact that she is physically weaker; and to regard her always as a fellow heir of the grace of life–life eternal–which awaits all of the faithful. (Joh 17:3.) In styling the wife as the weaker vessel the implication is that man is also a vessel–both the husband and wife being instruments which God uses in his service.

To the end that your prayers be not hindered.–The word “hindered” is the rendering of a word which means literally to cut in, to interrupt. Where strife and discord obtain in a home, prayer is cut into and interrupted–the message to heaven is short-circuited! Bitterness, division, and bickering are opposed to the spirit of prayer and operate to terminate all efforts in that respect. Only where peace and harmony prevail can the husband and wife join their efforts in united prayer to the throne of grace.

Commentary on 1Pe 3:7 by N.T. Caton

1Pe 3:7-Likewise, ye husbands.

Peter now turns to Christian husbands, and their duties receive attention. Christian husband are not to separate from their wives because they are not converted to Christ. Very true it may be that the relation of husband and wife is the more strongly cemented where both are followers of Christ, yet where this is not the case no cause for separation exists; but they must be dwelt with according to knowledge. As though the apostle said to the Christian husband, your superior knowledge acquired through your belief as to the duties growing out of these domestic ties should cause you to make your home pleasant, for both you and your wife are designed by the heavenly Father to share alike the good of this earthly life, and to both alike are offered the grace of eternal life. While the wife may be in nature and constitution the weaker vessel, she is entitled to this respect, and, while so acting, your prayers for her conversion will meet with no hindrance.

Commentary on 1Pe 3:7 by Burton Coffman

1Pe 3:7 –Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered.

In Christianity, obligations are never a one-way street, but reciprocal by nature. If slaves have obligations, so do their masters; if children have duties toward their parents, so do parents have duties toward their children; if wives have duties to fulfill, so do their husbands. This is noticed extensively in Ephesians and Colossians where such duties are spelled out reciprocally for all of the classes here mentioned; but the principle is extended infinitely to include all obligations where human relationships are involved.

Dwell with your wives according to knowledge … Macknight translated this, “Husbands cohabit with your wives according to knowledge,”[10] which, in the light of the probable meaning of next to the last clause, appears to be the likely meaning of it.

As unto the weaker vessel … Modern women resent such a view as this; but the unanimous opinion of all mankind for centuries confirms it as a fact. Plato said, “Lighter tasks are to be given to women than to men because of the weakness of their sex”;[11] and as long as golf courses have one set of rules for men and another for women, every country club on earth bears continual witness to it. In those lands where women do not enjoy the chivalrous preference and honor which Christianity has brought to them, their status is invariably one of progressive reduction and oppression. In turning away from Christianity and staking all of their hopes upon a newly won legal status, the great mass of womankind will eventually find that they have been woefully short-changed and cheated.

Giving honor unto the woman … The honor given to women through obedience to this great Christian ethic cannot fail to be forfeited through acceptance of the current temptation of women to rely, not upon this chivalrous honor which God through his gospel has conferred upon them, but upon a projected legal status which they view as giving them something better; whereas there is nothing better than the holy reverence that Christians have for the person and personality of women, and particularly their wives. This honor has been manifested in many small things, such as offering women seats in crowded rooms, or removing hats in elevators (things which have certainly gone out of style); but they were signs of a deeper respect and reverence for women which were essential features of the Christian ethic toward women. Of course, it could be that the respect and reverence continue without their external indicators; but it may well be feared that these too have gone out of style. For the Christian, the loving appreciation and holy regard for women can never go out of style, because they are firmly grounded in the word of the apostles, as in this verse.

As being joint-heirs of the grace of life … The meaning usually given to this clause makes “the grace of life” to be that of eternal life; and, of course, this is frequently the meaning of it throughout the New Testament; however, such a view of it here would make a pagan husband a joint-heir with his wife, of eternal life; and that cannot be true. It would seem better, then, to understand it as did Mason:

The grace of life is life in the natural sense, the mysterious and divine gift (not apart from one another, but conjointly), which they are privileged by the Creator’s primeval benediction (Gen 1:28) to transmit. They have the power no archangel has, to bring human beings into existence.[12]

To the end that your prayers be not hindered … As Kelcy noted, “This is an illustration of the fact that one cannot be right with God when his relations with another human being are wrong.”[13]

[10] James Macknight, Macknight on the Epistles, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, reprint, 1969), p. 473.

[11] Plato, as quoted by Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 124.

[12] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 415.

[13] Raymond C. Kelcy, The Letters of Peter and Jude Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1972), p. 67.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

grace

Grace (imparted). 1Pe 4:10; Rom 6:1; 2Pe 3:18.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

ye: Gen 2:23, Gen 2:24, Pro 5:15-19, Mal 2:14-16, Mat 19:3-9, 1Co 7:3, Col 3:19, Eph 5:25-28, Eph 5:33

giving: 1Co 12:22-24, 1Th 4:4

heirs: Eph 3:6, Tit 3:7, Heb 1:14

that: Job 42:8, Mat 5:23, Mat 5:24, Mat 18:19, Rom 8:26, Rom 8:27, Eph 4:30, Eph 6:18

Reciprocal: Gen 2:18 – I will Gen 3:1 – he said Gen 16:6 – Abram Est 4:11 – but I Rom 13:7 – honour to 1Co 7:33 – how 1Co 14:35 – let 1Ti 2:8 – without 1Ti 5:3 – Honour Heb 6:17 – the heirs 1Pe 4:7 – and 2Pe 1:5 – knowledge

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1Pe 3:7. Dwell with them according to knowledge means for the husband to act intelligently toward his wife. That will cause him to remember that she is the weaker vessel in that she belongs to the “weaker sex” physically, and therefore is not as rugged as he. But while there is this difference in their strength, yet they are equal heirs to the grace of life, which means the favors that the Lord has promised to those who live for Him. Prayers be not hindered. This phrase indicates that where husbands and wives are both disciples, they will engage in mutual prayer services in their homes. Yet such services would be hindered were their love not mutual also.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

1Pe 3:7. Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives. The brief counsels to husbands which are now appended to the ample exposition of the duties of wives are neither a mere parenthesis in the Epistle (Canon Cook), nor simply a corollary to the foregoing exhortation (Canon Mason). Far less can they be said to be out of place, as not in harmony with the general idea of subjection (so Weiss). Both the formula in like manner and the participial turn of the sentence (literally = dwelling together) show that what is now said is given still as an integral portion of the general injunction of 1Pe 2:13, and that it deals with another type of submission. There is a submission which husbands, notwithstanding that the man is the head of the woman, have to yield, not less than wives, to the idea and object of the married state as one form of the every ordinance of man. This implies on the side of the husbands that they are to dwell with their wives. Should a Christian husband be wedded to a heathen wife, he is not to consider himself freed on that account from the claims of family and conjugal life. Their association in the home life is to be according to knowledge. This does not mean according to their knowledge of the Gospel (Grotius, etc.); neither is it exactly = according to the Christian recognition of the wifes relation to the husband (Scott, etc.). It means reasonably, intelligently, i.e with a just recognition and wise consideration of what the ordinance itself is, and what the relative positions of husband and wife are. One cannot now prescribe rules, says Luther; God brings it home to every man himself that he must act toward his wife agreeably to reason, according as may be best adapted to each wife (see also Steiger). So the poet Thomson describes the husband, Who, with superior dignity, with reason, And manly tenderness, will ever love her; Not first a kneeling slave, and then a tyrant.

giving honour to the woman as the weaker vessel, as also heirs together of the grace of life. The whole of chivalry is in these words, says Canon Mason. The construction of the passage, however, is somewhat uncertain. The word rendered the woman is properly speaking an adjective, the female qualifying the noun vessel. The dwell with may have its object either in the term your wives, which then must be supplied from the context, or it may be connected immediately with the noun vessel. The phrase giving honour also may go either with the woman, etc., or with the heirs together. Hence the whole sentence may be rendered as above, which is the construction adopted (with some minor differences) by the A. V., the R. V., the old English Versions, etc. Or it may run thusdwell according to knowledge with the female vessel as the weaker vessel, giving honour to them as heirs together, etc. In either case it is shown that if the home life is to be regulated so as to be according to knowledge, there must be a considerate recognition of the natural weakness of the woman, and a readiness to give her (the verb means to apportion or assign; this is its only occurrence in the New Testament) the honourable regard which is due to her as the husbands associate in life and in grace. The term vessel is used here in the figurative sense, in which it is elsewhere applied to men as objects made by God, and used as the instruments of His purpose (cf. Act 9:15; Rom 9:21-23; 2Ti 2:21; cf. also 2Co 4:7). This usage has its basis in the language of the Old Testament prophets, e.g. Jer 18:6; Jer 19:11; Jer 22:28; Jer 48:36; Isa 29:16; Isa 45:9; Isa 64:8; Hos 8:8; Psa 2:9; cf. Rev 2:27. It is used in the solemn sense of vessels of Gods wrath or mercy, and vessels chosen for His service; but also, as here and in 1Th 4:4 (in which last it seems to designate the wife), in reference to the Divine intention in the natural relations. Husband and wife, too, are both regarded here as equally the vessels or instruments by which Gods purpose is made good in this particular province of life, the only difference between them being that the one is the weaker vessel, and the other the stronger. This natural difference establishes the wifes claim on the considerate regard of the husband. The same claim upon his respect and honour is made yet stronger by the fact that all natural differences disappear in the spiritual relation which makes them joint-heirs (cf. Rom 8:17; Eph 3:6; Heb 11:9) of the grace of life. The exact force of this latter statement will vary slightly according to the choice which is made between two somewhat equally balanced readings, one of which puts the heirs together in apposition to the husbands, the other in apposition to the wives. In the former case, the point is that the husbands consciousness of being on the same platform with the wife in the inheritance of grace should enlist his honour and regard for her; in the other, it will be that honour is due to the wife not only because she is the wife, and naturally weaker than the husband, but also because she has all the dignity of having in point of fact an equal interest in grace. What they inherit together is called the grace of life; by which is to be understood neither the gift or dower of natural life which is committed to husband and wife (Canon Mason), nor the life of Divine favour and blessing which the married estate is designed to be (Hofmann). As the immediate mention of prayer suggests, it means rather the grace which consists in eternal life, or which brings that life to us; or, as Alford and others take it, the gracious gift of eternal lifethat new life as a whole, of which the woman is participant equally with the man. It is not necessary to suppose that only Christian wives are in view. The clause deals simply with the fact that God makes no distinction between husband and wife in regard to this gift of a life which is at once a glorious present possession and an object of elevating anticipation. The idea is not merely that the hope of eternal glory makes men generous and mild, as Bengel interprets it, but that the recognition of another as having the same place as ourselves in Gods offer of grace, above all if that other has the sacred name of wife, should teach us to yield the honour which has been enjoined.

to the end that your prayers be not hindered. The reading varies here between two forms of the verb, one which means to be cut off, i.e in the sense of being destroyed, or in that of being debarred from communication with the throne of grace; and another (and this is the better attested) which means to be impeded or obstructed. The prayers are taken by many interpreters (Calvin, Alford, Weiss, etc.) to be the conjugal prayers of husband and wife, social prayers, or family prayers; in which case the idea is that, where the wife is not recognised by the husband for what she is in Gods sight, the two cannot pray in concert as married people. There will be nothing to call forth their common prayers, and the blessing attached (Mat 18:19) to united supplication cannot visit their home. As the husbands, however, are directly dealt with in the verse, it is better to take the prayers to be their prayers; and the idea will be that the Christian husbands own prayers will be arrested on their way to the throne. The injustice done to the wife will burden their pinions, and check their rise to the Divine Ear. The possibility of so disastrous a result is another reason for giving honour to the wife.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Next our apostle proceeds to direct and exhort husbands to the practice of their respective duties; the general and comprehensive duty of the husband here mentioned is cohabitation, under which all matrimonial duties are contained: Dwell with your wives according to knowledge; that is, as becomes wise and understanding men, that will understand their duty, and, as the rule of Christianity directs, giving just honour and due respect unto them, and exercising great tenderness towards them.

Next observe, The reason subjoined to enforce this duty upon husbands: 1. Because wives are the weaker vessels, subject to infirmities, and more liable to contempt; therefore their husbands should contribute their wisdom and authority to support their honour, and preserve them from being despised either by children or servants.

2. Because wives are not only co-partners with their husbands in their temporal good things, but also co-heirs of saving grace with them, heirs together of the grace of life.

3. Because otherwise their prayers, one with, and one for, another, would be obstructed and disturbed; That your prayers be not hindered.

Note here, That all sinful walking in general, but discord and discontent between husband and wife in particular, doth exceedingly hinder prayer: it oftentimes hinders from the very act of prayer, that the duty is laid aside; it flats and deads our spirits, and straitens our hearts in prayer, and it hinders the effect, fruit, and success, of our prayers; it makes persons in that condition, that they have no heart to come before God, nor care to lift up their faces to him.

From the whole learn, That it ought to be the mutual care of married couples so to order all their carriage towards each other, that in their houses they hinder not any holy duties; to hinder the practice of religion is repugnant to the great ends of this relation; some hinder by their wickedness, others by their discontent and frowardness; take we care that neither the husband’s nor wife’s heart be deadened, nor their heart damped to holy duties, by either of their sinful or froward behaviour; that family will be little in praying that is much in squabbling and contending one with another.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Husbands’ Treatment of Wives

As in 3:1; 2:13 and 18, Peter, in 3:7, is encouraging proper conduct so the world will see Christ in Christians’ lives. Unlike heathen outside of Christ, Christian husbands should have knowledge of God’s law and treat their wives with love and consideration (see 1Co 7:3-4 ; Eph 5:25-31 ; Col 3:19 ).

They should count their wives as precious, which is the meaning of the word translated, “giving honor.” It has the same meaning which was observed in 1:19. It is not popular with some women but still true that man is generally physically stronger than women. (Coffman reminds us of the men’s and women’s tees at a golf course.)

Woman is also an heir to eternal life through Jesus Christ ( Rom 6:23 ; Gal 3:28 ). Thus, she is spiritually equal to the man and worthy of honor. Where Christianity has grown, women have generally seen their lot improve because of its teachings. Peter enjoins husbands to treat their wives in such a manner so that their prayers will not be interrupted. Discord in the family can break into our prayer life, as can any wrong treatment of a brother ( Mat 5:23-24 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

1Pe 3:7. Likewise, ye husbands See on Eph 5:25; Col 3:19; dwell with them Conduct yourselves toward them, according to knowledge Wisely and discreetly; suitably to that knowledge of your duty which you have obtained by the gospel: or, knowing they are weak, and therefore to be used with tenderness: yet do not despise them for this, but give them honour Both in heart and in your behaviour toward them, as those who are called to be joint-heirs of that eternal life which ye and they hope to receive by the free grace of God. In Scripture, honour is sometimes used for maintenance, because to supply any one with the necessaries and conveniences of life was considered, in ancient times, as doing him honour. Accordingly the Greeks, in reward of eminent services done to the community, decreed maintenance at the public expense to those who had performed these services. By assigning as the reason why honour should be given to the wife, that she is weaker than the husband, in body or person, (as the word , vessel, here seems to mean,) the apostle hath intimated, not only that he ought to afford her a competent share of the necessaries and conveniences of life, but as much relief from bodily labour as his circumstances will allow: all which is most reasonable, considering the many bodily troubles women are subject to, in the breeding, bearing, and nursing of children. That your prayers be not hindered On the one part or the other. All sin hinders prayer, particularly anger. Any thing at which we are angry is never more apt to come into our minds than when we are at prayer. And those who do not forgive, will find no forgiveness from God.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

7. Likewise ye husbands, dwelling with the wife as the weaker vessel, in harmony with knowledge extending unto them honor as truly your fellow heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers be not hindered. While the wife is the husbands physical inferior, we see here that she is his fellow heir in the grace of life, clearly involving the conclusion of her spiritual equality with her husband as to the rights and privileges in the kingdom of God.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

3:7 {6} Likewise, ye husbands, {c} dwell with [them] according to {d} knowledge, {7} giving {e} honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker {f} vessel, {8} and as being heirs together of the {g} grace of life; {9} that your prayers be not hindered.

(6) He also teaches husbands their duties, that is, that the more understanding and wisdom they have, the more wisely and circumspectly they behave themselves.

(c) Do all the duties of wedlock.

(d) The more wisdom the husband has, the more circumspectly he must behave himself in bearing those inconveniences, which through the woman’s weakness often cause trouble both to the husband and the wife.

(7) The second argument: because the wife nonetheless is weaker by nature than the man, she is an excellent instrument of the man, made for far more excellent uses: upon which it follows that she is not therefore to be neglected, because she is weak, but on the contrary she ought to be so much more cared for.

(e) Having an honest care for her.

(f) The woman is called a vessel after the manner of the Hebrews, because the husband uses her as his friend and helper, to live faithfully before God.

(8) The third argument: for that they are equal in that which is the most important (that is to say, in the benefit of eternal life) who otherwise are unequal concerning the leadership and conduct at home, and therefore they are not to be despised although they are weak.

(g) Of that gracious and free benefit, by which we have everlasting life given to us.

(9) The fourth argument: All fighting and rebuking must be avoided, because they hinder prayers and the whole service of God, to which both the husband and wife are equally called.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

4. Husbands’ respect for their wives 3:7

Why did Peter write more about the conduct of women (1Pe 3:1-6) than of men (1Pe 3:7)? He evidently did so because his concern was for Christian wives who were married to pagan husbands. A Christian wife married to a pagan husband was in a more vulnerable position than a Christian husband who was married to a pagan wife in that culture. Normally pagan women married to Christian husbands would adopt their husbands’ faith. In Roman society a wife would normally adopt her husband’s religion. [Note: D. L. Balch, Let Wives Be Submissive: The Domestic Code in I Peter, p. 99; idem, "’Let Wives Be Submissive . . .’: The Origin, Form, and Apolegetic Function of the Household Duty Code (Haustafel) in I Peter" (Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1974), pp. 240-46.]

"His emphasis throughout is on those points at which the Christian community faces outward to confront Roman society. Probably for this reason he omits children and parents altogether; the parent-child relationship (at least in regard to younger children) is not normally one in which belief and unbelief confront each other . . ." [Note: Michaels, p. 122.]

The Roman author Cato wrote, "If you were to catch your wife in an act of infidelity, you can kill her with impunity without a trial; but, if she were to catch you, she would not venture to touch you with her finger, and, indeed, she has no right." [Note: Cited by William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter, p. 264.]

The Christian wife’s new freedom in Christ created new problems and challenges for her. Perhaps Peter also wanted to communicate more encouragement (1Pe 3:5-6) and tenderness to the women, not because he believed they were greater sinners than their husbands. What follows in 1Pe 3:7 is just as challenging as what we have read in 1Pe 3:1-6.

"It is clear that Peter does not think about the possibility of a husband with a non-Christian wife, for if a family head in that culture changed his religion it would be normal that his wife, servants, and children also changed." [Note: Davids, p. 122.]

"In 1Pe 3:1-6 Christian wives are instructed to behave with deference as they encounter the difficulties of living with an unbelieving husband. Similarly in 1Pe 3:7 Christian husbands are told to honor their wives in unfair circumstances brought about by the wife’s being the weaker vessel." [Note: James R. Slaughter, "Peter’s Instructions to Husbands in 1 Peter 3:7," in Integrity of Heart, Skillfulness of Hands, p. 183.]

Another possibility is that these husbands were suffering for their faith.

As with his instructions to wives, Peter began his counsel to the husbands with a command to think right first (cf. 1Pe 3:1-2). He said men should cultivate understanding. This brief charge carries profound implications. It requires active listening to the wife as well as study of her temperament, emotions, personality, and thought patterns. It is a tall order to know one’s wife, to understand her, even to be understanding with her. However the knowledge in view is probably primarily knowledge of God’s Word concerning the proper treatment of one’s wife. [Note: Ibid., pp. 178-80.]

By comparing a wife to a weaker vessel Peter was not implying that wives or women are inferior to husbands or males or that they are weaker in every way or most ways. Obviously, in many marriages the wife is the stronger person emotionally, mentally, spiritually, morally, socially, and or physically. Nevertheless physically the wife is usually weaker than her husband. Men tend to choose as their wives women who are not as strong or muscular as they are. Furthermore generally men are stronger than women physically. In view of this, husbands need to treat their wives with special consideration. Both the husband and the wife are vessels, but husbands are more typically similar to iron skillets whereas wives resemble china vases, being more delicate. They are equally important but different.

Peter banished any implication of essential inferiority with his reminder that the wife is a fellow-heir of God’s grace just as much as the husband. God deals with both types of people the same when it comes to bestowing grace on them. He shows no favoritism or partiality because of their genders. Wives may normally be more delicate in some respects than their husbands, but spiritually they are equal. "Life" probably refers to both physical life and spiritual life since husbands and wives share both equally.

The husband who does not treat his wife with honor will not get answers to his prayers the way he could if he did treat her with honor (cf. Mat 6:14-15). In other words, disobedience to the will of God regarding how a man treats his wife hinders the husband’s fellowship with God.

"Egkoptesthai [’be hindered’], to have an obstacle thrown in the way, does not restrict the thought to preventing the prayers from reaching their destination at God’s throne of grace. The thought includes all manner of hindering. A husband who treats his wife in the wrong way will himself be unfit to pray, will scarcely pray at all. There will be no family altar, no life of prayer. His worship in the congregation will be affected." [Note: Lenski, p. 141.]

A man’s selfishness and egotism in his marriage will hurt his relationship with God as well as his relationship with his wife.

"As the closest human relationship, the relationship to one’s spouse must be most carefully cherished if one wishes a close relationship with God." [Note: Davids, p. 123.]

One of a husband’s primary responsibilities in a marriage is caring for his wife. Caring requires understanding. If you are married, what are your wife’s greatest needs? Ask her. What are her greatest concerns? Ask her. What are her hopes and dreams? Ask her. What new vistas would she like to explore? Ask her, and keep on asking her over the years! Her answers will enable you to understand and care for her more effectively.

"In order to be able to love deeply, we must know each other profoundly. If we are to lovingly respond to the needs of another, we must know what they are." [Note: Cedar, p. 158.]

"In my premarital counseling as a pastor, I often gave the couple pads of paper and asked them to write down the three things each one thinks the other enjoys doing the most. Usually, the prospective bride made her list immediately; the man would sit and ponder. And usually the girl was right but the man wrong! . . .

"To say, ’I never knew you felt that way!’ is to confess that, at some point, one mate excommunicated the other." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:410. McGee, 5:696-99, made excellent and sometimes hilarious comments on 1Pe 3:1-7 that are too numerous to quote here.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)